Eva Possibilities and Fusion Pandemonium
by Xed Alpha
Summary: An incident during the fight between the Third Angel and Unit-01 lands NERV with two Saiyan children stranded far from home and not in the mood to do as they're told. With their father's following on, a chain of events is about to unfold that even the Kai's themselves could not foresee: All hell is soon to break loose.
1. Chapter 1: Auras and AT Fields

[A/N] Okay, you may note this fic has been wiped. The reason being I'm currently rewriting it along with that and also writing my other fics, but this fic will be restored in time, promise. In the meanwhile...

Sigh Disclaimer: don't own Eva... don't own dbz... don't sue... please

**Possibilities and Pandemonium: The misadventures of Gotenks**

**Chapter 1: Auras and A.T Fields**

It was on a high plane, miles away from the bustling metropolis known as West City and also, across the boundless infinite possibilities of the dimensional barriers in another universe, in another city who's relative geographical location was virtually identical, that the stage was being set for a string of events that both the Kai's and the creator himself did not see coming: All hell was soon to break loose...

"Come on, Goten! Are you going to be a wussy mamma's boy all your life?" The nine year-old purple-haired boy referred to as Trunks exclaimed. Speaking down to his usual black-haired-eight-year-old-minion-in-mischief who, just as often, was referred to as Goten.

"I don't know, Trunks-kun, even my dad told us that Super Saiyan 3 was dangerous to use!" The hopelessly innocent black haired boy pleaded to his social superior.

"Goten... Think about it, it's only dangerous if we use it for the whole thirty minutes. We're only going to be doing it for less than thirty _seconds!_" The young heir of Capsule Corp. reasoned, raising his hand and index finger in his usual pose for getting through the basics of his mischievous plots with the underdeveloped son of Goku.

"B-but... Piccolo-san said that the chamber was totally sealed and we couldn't get back... He said it was too dangerous!" Goten exclaimed back, his arms waving comically up and down rapidly.

"Aww come on, Goten. You know as well as I do that Piccolo-san is nothing more than a big green worry wart." The short boy replied with an evil grin on his face.

Several thousand miles away a certain Namekian sneezed.

"We're gonna get in real trouble either way though, Trunks-kun. Our parents could go wild," Goten spoke in a notably more quiet tone. He was starting to crumble under the extended argument as his mental superior tackled his worries about their plan.

"Come _on,_ Goten! Do you think our parents will even think about that for a second when they see us come back stronger and faster than ever before? Don't you want to be strong enough to fight with your dad and be as strong as Gohan?" Trunks addressed, grinning with his left eyebrow raised as he gave Goten the thought to ponder over. 'Yeah that's it, Goten,' thought Trunks, hiding a smirk, 'put that through your brain... Yeah, you know it makes sense.'

Just as the son of Vegeta calculated, Goten cracked under this last peer pressure assault as images of him squaring off with his father and fighting side-by-side with his brother flooded into his small head, cramming his worries back somewhat... Not completely, but just enough to agree with his elder's plan. "Hmm okay, Trunks-kun, we'll try it..." said Goten, reservation clear in his voice, raising a happy smile from Trunks"...B-But we stop if anything starts to go wrong, Trunks, deal?" Goten said to his now gleeful companion.

"Deal... I mean... What _could_ go wrong, Goten my friend? We go in for four hours of time here; we come out stronger than ever!" Trunks preached, clenching his fist in emphasis. "_And_... We've got everything we need!" he added, indicating his capsule case. The inside lined with many different capsules containing all the supplies they would need for their little jaunt into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

"Okay, Trunks-kun... I'm ready." Goten said, still with some reservation in his voice (though noticeably less).

"'Kay, Goten. Shall we?" Trunks offered beckoning his hand out towards the flat area of earth several hundred yards away.

"Uh-Huh!" Goten nodded in acknowledgement, as he turned to follow the purple-haired pre-teen.

Landing in perfect synchronization equal distances apart facing forward with fists clenched, they began...

They both roared out, focusing their ki energies onto one point. Their bodies exploded into a blaze of golden flame, hair shunting upwards as their power levels rose with similar ferocity, all the while somehow able to expertly level out that power to match each other exactly.

Their hands moved out in opposite directions with their fists clenched.

"Fuuu..." They spoke in unison, their arms rising over their head as they shuffled their feet three times closer to each other. _'_I'm not so sure about this...' thought Goten silently as he went about the moves.

"...Sion..." Their arms and bodies twisted round, fists extended in opposite directions_. _'Yeah... This is gonna be great,' Trunks contemplated gaily, a stark contrast to Goten's thought processes.

Both boys swung their bodies over, their index fingers extending..."HA!"

Twilight exploded into day as the fusion began, and in that same explosion of light, Goten's worries slipped away as his soul was flooded and merged with Trunks', the boundaries between where one ended and one began disappearing.

As light began to settle back into evening, where once stood two golden haired boys, now stood one: a cheekily-grinning boy donned in a purple waistcoat with emerald green eyes, an intense golden aura surrounded him that crackled with ki energy. His most noticeable feature being long golden hair that went down well past his waist.

The lone figure opened his eyes slowly and declared to nobody in particular, "Ohhh, yeah! That's the way. Gotenks is back on the scene!" He then proceeded to burst into semi-insane laughter for no apparent reason.

His laughter and grin vanished quickly as they began, replaced by a serious stare as he contemplated his next move.

"Oookay then... Let's get this show on the road." The long-haired boy commentated as he grabbed his capsule case, clenched his fists and inhaled a breath deep enough to fill a hot air balloon _'_okay, Gotenks, you've done this once to get out, therefore you can just do it again to get back in...Yeah... Ha ha ha... That's it.' his mental voice spoke to him as he took the last step and modulated his mega-intense energy to breach the dimensional barrier.

"Gyaaaaaaa!" he screeched forward as he had done before, but it was at that point that it all went tits-up: a micro-second before he released his screech, he was suddenly flooded with a burst of last minute reservations from the side of his personality given by Goten. His energy was at the perfect rate for punching a dimensional hole, but as that feeling flooded through him, the energy spiraled; randomizing out of focus, missing its intended destination as it attempted to find a dimensional window created at just that time and place in another universe... _Any universe_...

It found one...

The barrier was ripped open and the panicking Third Stage Super Saiyan was pulled in by the unstable dimensional hole.

-α-

Meanwhile, on the other end...

"Just concentrate on walking for now. Okay, Shinji?" Captain Katsuragi advised to the unsure Third Child as Eva Unit-01 was released on the surface, face to face with the gargantuan Third Angel known as Sachiel.

"...Walking," The moderately nervous Third Child muttered as he willed the giant bio-mechanical fighting machine forward.

The Eva took its first steps forward, and at that same time the Angel thought it best to make friends with the newcomer in its own special way.

_Several seconds later.._.

"Shinji, you have to get up!" Misato shouted over the comm. system, just as Unit-01 was picked up by the semi-humanoid messenger of god.

_**Crash**__!_ Came the deafening noise of Sachiel's brilliant purple-white lance as it was driven repeatedly into the head of the limp Evangelion Unit.

"The stress is too much, there's a crack in the brain case!" The brown-haired first lieutenant Maya Ibuki shouted over the noise as the angel raised the Eva up over its head and slammed it back into a nearby building.

It fell limply forward, and then several events occurred in an eternally slow, yet somehow rapid succession:

A cold silence emerged...

A spurt of blood erupted from the head...

A fourteen year-old boy began to slip into neural-shock...

A sub-conscious cry for help screamed out from said boy...

A pair of glowing eyes blazed to life...

A roar sliced the blanket of silence that covered Tokyo-3...

...And a mother's wrath was unleashed.

"It reactivated..." The disbelieving voice of Misato Katsuragi breathed as the Test-Type Eva pulled itself to its feet.

"We've _done_ _it_..." Was the almost inaudible comment from the Nerv Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari as he watched over the proceedings with a smirk that was eerily similar to a certain Saiyan Prince's.

The berserk Eva charged the Angel with insane ferocity, leaping hundreds of feet into the air and spinning into a forward flip, smashing the Angel, several unsuspecting buildings and a few unfortunate civilians backwards through the streets.

The Angel rose up, spreading its A.T field out of instinct, as the berserk fighting machine lunged yet again to make another attack, only to bounce off the orange octagonal energy field.

The Eva fell back for a second, using the Angel's slight disorientation to deploy its own field.

Now, if one were to observe the area between the Angel and Eva as they forced forward, then one might have noticed a slight rippling in the air current. Also, if one were to monitor the energy being emitted on the battlefield, as opposed to gawking at the battle like some overly exciting pay-per-view event, one would _also_ notice the energy spikes of the Angel and Unit-01 being dwarfed by something else for just a fraction of a second...

It was as the monsters collided; their A.T fields clashing and neutralizing one another; that it happened...

The imbalances in the dimensional fabric created at this one point were minute and almost undetectable, but it was enough to attract an out of control transdimensional energy pulse from an alternate universe, which was drawn to that instability like a moth to a flame. Anyone watching this tiny spot would have noticed a small congealing ball of energy clenching, pulsing and disappearing... Not, however, before spitting out a small figure and sending it spinning downwards at grotesque speed. As the form (which appeared to be a rapidly spinning yellow fur ball) was smashed through the A.T. field neutralization point, it was pulled into two by the opposing force of the two fields, causing them to be hurtled diagonally downwards; one smashing straight down into an armaments building, the other crashing into the opposite end of the city, smashing into what appeared to be a derelict apartment block, both fading instantly into unconsciousness along with the gold of their hair and the green of their eyes...

The Saiyans had landed in Tokyo-3.

Shame no one seemed to have noticed...

Or cared for that matter...

_To be continued..._

-α-

[A/N] As I said, this fic is being reuploaded as I redo it, things are coming along, busy busy busy!

Next Chapter: An Injured First Child finds a confused black-haired surprise waiting at home. Meanwhile, as the loading of the armament buildings begin, Nerv's head of Section One, Dr Akagi and a certain Captain stumble upon an unconscious little bundle of Saiyan trouble and learn taking a somewhat pissed off little super Saiyan into the heart of Nerv headquarters is not the best command decision to make in one's career...

Coming soon is Chapter 2: Unwelcome Guests


	2. Chapter 2: Unwelcome Guests

[A/N] And so, the reupload commences, who would've thought this fic had its own page at TV Tropes, I was actually quite shocked to find that out. Anyways, I'll get right on and start this thing off...

**Chapter 2: Unwelcome Guests**

Several days after the incident involving the Third Angel, life in Tokyo-3 was beginning to return to normal, (or what can be at least be _considered_ normal by for Tokyo-3 standards): buildings were being repaired; people were returning home; casualty reports were being suppressed and giant bio-mechanical fighting machines were under repair.

Now most of these incidents, along with everything else in Tokyo-3, could be accounted for in some way, legal or otherwise. There was however _one_ exception to this rule however. Said exception was now currently baffling the heck out of several of the heads of Section One and several other notable officers, all of whom were standing in a dimly-lit room, surrounding a large floor screen. Along with a video recording of the clash between Unit-01 and the Angel, the large display also had several accompanying bars and graphs and a box marked 'time-index' in the top left corner.

"Does it _really_ matter?" groaned Captain Katsuragi. After being briefed step-by-step on the strange energy emission that had been registered during the battle in it's simplest way by Dr Akagi, Misato now found herself still non the wiser and also now extremely bored on top of it. She exhaled a tired breath, speaking in a skeptical tone, "With all the weird stuff I saw going on, along with all of those light shows, I'm not surprised there were a few random energy spikes detected by the MAGI**."**

"Normally I would agree with you, Captain," said Ritsuko, reading from her clipboard, "but this is something that simply cannot be ignored. All three MAGI have given full affirmatives on further investigation into this strange energy spike. It was clearly emitted by a source completely separate from anything we were observing; separate from the Eva, the Angel or any of our forces, and the focused energy it gave off for just those few small seconds utterly dwarfed anything we had detected from both the EVA and the Angel so far. The energy pattern was also completely alien to the Angel."

"The spike seemed to appear right after a strange spacial distortion was detected for less than point three of a second _just_ as the opposing AT fields neutralized each other. If anything it would appear that the large energy spike _originated _from this distortion," explained Maya as the image of the EVA and Angel clashing played. The playback went into slow-motion as their fields clashed, releasing a blinding light for a second with a graph alongside displaying energy emissions. Two bars, helpfully marked Unit-01 and Third Angel remained steady as a third, simply marked 'anomaly' appeared, the bar spiking clear up to the top of the screen briefly.

"It was the fact that the emission appeared to split itself into two smaller energy signals a split-second later, and then went off our sensors somewhere within Tokyo-3, which first attracted the MAGI's attention." said the doctor, the bar marked 'anomaly' vanishing and being replaced by two equally sized bars marked 'anomaly A' and 'anomaly B'.

"_So..._" Commander Fuyutsuki mused, eyes narrowed in thought, "It's not so much the fact of what it was..." He offered to the others in the room, the answer obvious.

"...It's where it went." finished Lieutenant Shigeru, his eyes focused on the huge spike that dominated most of the graph as the scene repeated itself and froze at that point.

"Precisely," The good doctor said, ending the general description of the situation.

"Hmm..." The commander mumbled. As an ex-science professor, the situation was indeed intriguing to him, but he knew what the top priority was at that time, and so he summarized the situation and ended the meeting, "keep an eye on the situation for any similar anomalies and attempt to determine the source, but for now this takes a back seat to all current projects. Dismissed."

"Sir!" came several chorused replies as they turned about and left the room, the Sub-Commander stopping and giving one last passing glance at the energy graph, his brow clenching in thought for a second. He then immediately turned back around and left the room.

-Z-

_The next day..._

In a derelict, and now barely used sector of Tokyo-3, the glistening metals and brightness of the day were contrasted by the black form of a NERV Sedan as it cruised slowly through the streets carrying its silent cargo toward its destination.

Rei Ayanami sat alone on the left side of the back seat, her driver and assigned bodyguard in front as she let her attention drift to nowhere in particular. Her current physical state was what anyone else would consider unbearable, but to Rei it was a minor inconvenience which would not hinder her duties to NERV Commander Ikari until the completion of the repairs on Evangelion Unit-00. Therefore, by her logic, her horrible injuries were really not all that much of a problem. If anything her current condition was 'satisfactory', given the apparent success of the synchronization between the Third Child and Unit-01. And though she _was_ prepared to pilot the EVA regardless of her body being ready to fall apart at the seams, she did in truth find the prospect of piloting the Unit in her current state somewhat..._disconcerting_.

Several minutes and many self-contemplations later, the injured First child arrived at her destination. She was assisted out of the vehicle by the accompanying Section Two agent, her small bag containing a small amount of her somewhat small collection of personal belongings being placed in her uninjured hand. The agent nodded in acknowledgement and climbed back into the car which then sped away seconds later.

Rei went back into her well-polished self-programmed mode, based on sure logic and efficiency, and headed towards the stairway. Although. if she was being _slightly_ more observant (with her single functional eye) then she might have noticed the many chunks of rubble strewn about the pavement that once belonged on the roof.

It was as she reached the fourth floor, and subsequently the door to her domicile, that Rei's mind _did_ stop to register an above average pattern of debris on the floor. It wasn't especially in the way, and so her mind quickly catalogued it as what could now be deemed an acceptable norm. She then carried on with her program of entering her apartment and continuing with her daily routine.

Now Rei Ayanami had to admit that in order to continue with her life as quickly and smoothly as possible -and hence fulfill her purpose more satisfactorily- she allowed herself to be controlled by her own set of preset norms in order to function at her most optimal level. If one were to look in a somewhat simplified method at the First's thought processes over the next minute or so along with her movements , it would have probably looked something like this 'enter as normal' Rei twisted her damaged lock as she entered, her mind immediately processed something 'excessive amount of solid debris scattered on the floor, from where?'**,** she allowed herself to have what could _begin_ to be interpreted as a confused frown as she walked onwards down her small passage into the main living space. Her mind immediately began processing what she was seeing as she dropped her bag on the floor. She looked to her left first, then the right, 'this is an unacceptable level of mess, it is most... disagreeable,' she contemplated this whilst continuing with her thought processes.

Rei's eye and head then raised up somewhat, 'my roof is in immediate need of repair, I should possibly report this to NERV central', she then stepped forward a few paces. looking down, 'my bed has been snapped in half, this is greatly unacceptable.'

Rei Ayanami's brow began to see the makings of a frown as her brain registered the form curled up in the debris that had been her bed. 'I am also unaware as to the identity of this person. I was not informed of being assigned a roommate,' contemplated the First Child, inclining her head curiously as she stared down, choosing to ignore the hell that her living space was now in and deciding the boy, who could have been mistaken for a large kitten in the way he was contentedly curled up in the shaft of sunlight created by the hole in the roof, deserved more attention. Rei cocked her head as the boy occasionally sucked on his thumb, tugging on one of his hair's spikes as he mumbled incoherently in his sleep.

Rei stared.

Goten snored.

Rei stared some more.

Goten snored some more.

Rei blinked (hard).

Goten sniffled, and then carried on as he was.

This cycle repeated itself for a further two minutes as Rei dwelled on the situation, that was of course until she realized she was now in need of a shower and so, deciding the boy wasn't going anywhere for now and therefore temporarily a secondary priority to her daily routine, Rei prepared to bathe herself.

As the First began her preparations to bathe herself, carefully avoiding her injuries in the process, she also contemplated, ne _decided,_ to call NERV soon after. She began her process for bathing: 'undress... done satisfactorily. Fetch bathing implements and other sanitations. Towel... Towel?' Rei looked almost confused for a second as she looked for her usual bath towel around the apartment systematically. Her eyes finally settled down on the strange slumbering form on her bed (or what was left of it anyways) and, to her now growing frustration over her current situation, realized that the boy had now grasped hold of the pilot's towel and instinctively wrapped himself up in it like a blanket.

Rei gave a mental sigh _'_This is becoming too much of an inconvenience. Perhaps I should notify Section Two now. No... bathe first, then notify'. She exhaled a slightly exasperated breath. And so, without breaking her emotionless mask, she approached the sleeping form and grasped hold of the towel and pulled, turning towards the bathroom in the process. This did not quite work out as Rei had assumed it would, as she was immediately pulled back, stumbling onto her backside and lay gasping in pain from the shock to her already injured ribs... and of course the new bruise on her behind to boot.

Ignoring the pain as if it wasn't there, Rei stood up and contemplated a solution to her quite serious problem: Freeing her precious towel from the death grip of that sleeping little annoyance. 'I will force him to release it,' she contemplated immediately. She twisted her legs at a slight angle and brought the end of the towel over her shoulder and grasped hold of it in her free arm. She then placed her no nonsense plan into action: She stood up briskly, extended her legs and twisted her entire body, keeping a firm grasp on her end of the towel. She felt the slack of the towel signal the success of her plan and so, without looking back, continued towards her shower. She also ignored the loud crashing sound that she had caused seconds after releasing the towel.

-α-

At that point, in a wonderful Goten dreamland involving excessive amounts of food, candies, toys and reincarnations of Majin Buu that Goten found he could now mysteriously defeat in one punch, the young Saiyan had to admit he was greatly enjoying his little nap. That was of course until the unexpected happened: he suddenly found himself somehow being yanked forcibly from his nice little dream, and for a second he felt a loss of warmth, followed by cold air hitting his body, and then finally he found himself spinning round in mid-air, before...

_Crash!_ The somewhat confused Saiyan found himself and his whole body sprawled out flat into a nearby cold metal dresser which, after him falling back and smashing onto an even harder floor, left a rather interesting Goten-shaped imprint in the side of the piece of furniture.

-α-

If there was anything that Rei was proud of herself for, it was her efficiency at cleanliness, as she somehow had the ability to fully bathe herself within a period of under five minutes and managed to redress her injuries within a further two, although she did find it somewhat disturbing not being able to clean her right arm and other more heavily bandaged areas. And so, from one disturbing scene to another, she headed back to what remained of her room...

-α-

After several minutes of muffled groans and head rubbing, the small form of Goten sat up, still massaging the now visible read mark on his forehead.

It didn't take long for the short Saiyan to register his unfamiliar surroundings, and just as long for his usual innocent and curious (or arguably just plain clueless) expression to appear, as he attempted to put two and two together and sum up his situation (Though for Goten, like his father when he was younger; when it came to figuring out situations. he ended up putting two and two together and getting five, hence making himself even more confused and clueless than before).

"Does someone actually _live_ here?" He asked himself in sheer awe of the mess the apartment was in. That was before his mind began giving flashes of memory: Fusing and being pulled into a funny hole; A loss of fusion; A building flying at him very, very quickly; being hit in the face by said building; softness and then darkness...

"Umm..." he said, nibbling his thumbnail, somehow hoping this would help as he stared from:

"Uhh..." the rubble;

"Ehh..." To the hole in the roof;

"Urm..." to the broken bed;

"Hmm..." To what appeared to be an imprint of himself;

"Ahh" Back to the roof.

This cycle went on for about five further minutes as the hopeless little warrior tried to join the dots of the big picture and figure something out. Needless to say...he was most unsuccessful. And so, Goten was greatly relieved when a possible answer to all his questions appeared in the form of an injured, naked, blue-haired, pale-skinned girl. Goten cocked his head curiously as their gazes met.

The First child fixed her stare on the now conscious stranger who was now returning it in a most unexpected manner 'why does he smile like that? Am I doing something that can be classed as amusing?'

Rei remained silent, and kept that way, not doing anything except fix her emotionless stare (one that would have most likely freaked out any normal person) as the strange little boy approached her and stopped about three feet in front of her and looked up with a curious, carefree smile. Meanwhile, Rei simply stared down and matched his curious stare with her own emotionless, yet still curious gaze.

"Ehh..." Goten gave one of his usual clueless gawking noises as he attempted to work out a reason why the newcomer had done nothing more than look at him. So he decided to do a little test. He reached up, extended his index finger and proceeded to prod the stationary pilot in the stomach repeatedly in an attempt to provoke any kind of response, as he was now becoming convinced she was either unable to talk, dead, some kind of statue, or simply not aware of his presence, therefore he decided prodding her until something happens to be the solution to all his problems.

To be fair, you can't fault his logic.

At this point Rei was flooded with what she could only assume was confusion in her thought processes 'What is he doing? Why does he not announce himself, I have given him ample opportunity. That is getting... _frustrating_. I wish him to stop that immediately!'

Out of all of Rei's inability to express her emotions correctly, she knew that being repeatedly poked and prodded had forced her to realize that the small annoyance was not going to be stopping his action any time soon.

"Identify yourself," She suddenly said bluntly.

Goten's prodding immediately stopped as he received his desired objective and, now happy to have an acquaintance, answered,

"I'm Goten!" He practically shouted with a bit too much enthusiasm, half-jumping as he said it.

Rei gave a slight inclination of her head, acknowledging the answer and silently relieved he had stopped poking her.

"Why are you here?" She finally asked, deciding the child's presence in her domicile should at last be explained (and possibly the other slight anomalies of her apartment that she had noticed too i.e. the sudden lack of a ceiling).

"_Where_ am I?" Goten asked, suddenly looking round again.

"My apartment," she replied bluntly.

Yet again an image flashed through the little Super Saiyan's head; of him hurtling downwards through a roof and hitting a bed. The cogs in his small head suddenly worked in a desperate attempt to answer his questions, and in the end he came out with a solution. Surprisingly, Goten had managed to come out with something that was virtually accurate: _'_Fused with Trunks, opened funny hole, funny hole sucked me in somewhere, pulled apart from the fusion, hurtled into girl's roof, smashed through girl's roof, landed on girl's bed, broke it, bounced off, hit cabinet'.

With the exception of how he was smashed into said cabinet, he was pretty much smack on.

'Why must I repeat myself' "Why are you here?" she replied in the exact same tone as before.

"Well you _see_..." Goten said, laughing with his hand on the back of his head, hoping he won't get into much trouble for the massive collateral damage he had accidentally caused.

"I think I... kinda broke your roof," he began, pointing straight up, "And... your bed," his finger moved to the destroyed single bed. "Erm... and your cabinet," then to the dresser, "And... I... Where's Trunks?" Goten suddenly changed the subject, hoping she could help him with his situation and not be too mad at him for wrecking her home.

At this point Rei's mind flooded with that confusion again as her free eye moved to focus on the gaping hole in her roof which she realized _was_ 'Goten-sized', as was the huge dent in her bed. _'_This boy has damaged my apartment extensively, and yet he remains mostly uninjured, possibly using explosives or such. I shall inform Section Two immediately.'

"Where's Trunks?" Goten repeated slightly louder as Rei turned about and walked to her bag, fetching her cell phone.

"_Where?_" he asked again almost frantically.

"Why are you asking me?" This was both a statement and a question on Rei's part. Following this, Goten managed to take the hint and dropped it.

Goten's thoughts wandered as he focused himself and closed his eyes 'hmmm... where are you?' he thought as he searched for a ki signal, which he found exceedingly hard as it was difficult to ignore several larger signals coming from a couple of miles nearby, _'no... no... wait, is that a... it's small... is it... yes... YES!'_

"TRUNKS!" Goten shouted triumphantly, raising a fist as he decided to go look for his comrade.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Goten said politely, bowing, "but I have to go find my friend now." He then turned and trotted off towards the door.

"You will remain here," Rei said simply as she stood up and moved into his path then began dialing a number into her phone.

"What?" Goten frowned, noticing his way blocked.

"I am calling NERV Intelligence. You will be apprehended and held in custody," Rei stated matter-of-factly (and with what could be almost interpreted as a _hint _of satisfaction which she found she couldn't deny herself).

_'_Apprehended_...?'_ Was all Goten could think of as he ran that sentence through his brain before it ticked _'_CUSTODY_?'_, recalling certain taunts the Great Saiyaman (i.e. Gohan) came up with, and so in the end his brain came up with: 'apprehended, plus custody, equals stop the weird girl'. With blinding speed that Rei couldn't hope to track, Goten's hand reached up and snatched her cell phone mid-button press.

"..." Rei blinked, staring at her now empty hand. She turned to Goten who, to her confusion, now held her phone protectively to his chest.

Not breaching her emotionless mask, she reached over to retrieve her phone from the now even more annoying intruder. Her efforts were, obviously futile, as the nimble Saiyan slipped away from Rei's grasp, hopping right over her head and landing on top of her cabinet (just short of knocking off the beaker containing her 'soul' as she called it).

Ignoring this for now, Rei walked over, still stoic-faced, and reached for her phone which Goten then raised above his head.

"Would you give me that?" she asked, her arm extended.

"No!" Goten said petulantly, placing her cell phone behind his back defiantly.

It was at this point that Rei let her now pent-up frustrations boil over (this takes quite some pushing for those who don't know her) and therefore had to deal with the situation.

Now if Rei Ayanami had one _tenth_ of a general insight into Goten's overall childish personality, then she would have realized that her next action (which may or may not have silenced or at least calmed down any other 7 year-old), was in fact the worst possible way for dealing with Goten:

_Slap!_

The sound of Rei's hand striking over the small Saiyan's cheek echoed throughout the apartment.

Goten froze on the spot, his jaw frozen in a dropped position as a red handprint appeared on his cheek. He remained silent, the hand containing her phone rigid in the air before of him.

Rei, still silent, finished her plan for retrieving her phone, and reached over to the still hand of the stunned little Saiyan...

It wouldn't budge. Frozen to the spot, Goten held her phone in what could only be described as a full-on death grip. It was then that it went all tits-up.

"sniff..."was the sound the small Saiyan made, as Rei pulled back to confront him again.

"sniff, sniff," Rei stared, and was curious at what he was doing, but it became obvious as his top lip began trembling and the semi-shaking Saiyan's eyes began to well up with tears.

Ignoring this, Rei spoke "return my-" But she couldn't even finish:

"THAT HURT!" He screeched up at her, "BWAHHAHAHAH!" He screeched/sobbed at an atrociously loud volume, shocking Rei so much that she staggered backwards away from him as he began shaking his arms erratically, and yet again, with a _bump_, back on her backside Rei landed.

She stood up quickly (gasping somewhat in pain) and stopped in front of the boy, noticing he had slipped to his knees, tears streaming as he cradled his swollen cheek in his small hand. He sobbed and sobbed (and had unbeknownst to her, punched his fist through the floor and sent a rough ki blast tearing directly down through the building).

Ayanami observed the behavior curiously for a moment 'I did not intend to injure him'.

She walked over and got down on knee level as some deep instinct she had no control over, and was unaware even existed, surfaced. She reached her free hand out and touched his now hot and wet cheek and brushed her hand softly over his tender skin. To her surprise, this had a most unexpected effect.

The bottom fell completely out of Goten's sorrow at this, his cries being diminished to a mere few sniffles.

Goten had now stopped his crying and looked up to the blue-haired girl and spoke the only thing that was now on his mind "... I wanna go home now".

Rei nodded once at him, extending her hand towards her cell phone, which Goten kindly returned, deciding to accept the help of the new stranger 'Even if I do get in trouble, I can handle myself,' the boy assured himself mentally. Rei stood up, just seconds before Goten thought it apt to give his new friend a big hug.

_Crack!_

A wince of pain just wouldn't cut it this time "Gyahh!" she half-screamed in agony as Goten released her.

"You okay?" Goten innocently inquired.

Gasping, she stumbled backwards a few steps...Only to slide back on her towel.

_Bump!_

Rei ended flat on her backside for the third time. Goten found this amusing... Rei wanted to cry.

"By the looks of you, you must fall over a lot, miss." he smiled, observing her bandages.

Rei scrambled up with Goten's help.

"Don't you think you should get dressed?" The hopelessly innocent boy observed, "You could catch a cold, and you look bad enough..." Goten finished.

Rei let out a noticeable sigh as she began to gather her clothing.

-α-

Meanwhile, approximately two to three miles away in the back of a NERV Section Two van...

Captain Katsuragi and Dr Akagi eyed their interesting discovery which was currently sleeping peacefully on the bench opposite them.

"_So_... how do you think he _got_ there"? Misato asked, still bemused over the incident that had just occurred..

"Well that's the whole point of taking him back with us: To find out." The head of Section One answered with a minor hint of sarcasm.

To say what had happened was a surprise to both would be an understatement.

A little earlier...

Parked near one of the very last armaments buildings to be loaded, the Captain and Doctor were equally surprised as, in the middle of a conversation, when the side of the building slid open and the chain of gargantuan shells slid ready to be loaded into position, a small figure dropped out of the building and rolled down, over and over each shell, before tumbling off and rolling to a stop at the feet of a very bewildered Misato Katsuragi, who soon registered the form to be not only be alive but seemed to be sleeping like a baby, a baby with a strange mop of purple hair and snoring loudly.

And so, after several long conversations and unsuccessful attempts to rouse the sleeping form, they decided to take him back to NERV H.Q. for further questioning...

"So... Just how _do_ we question a kid who's not even ten years old?" Misato asked, arching her head closer to the cute little slumbering boy between them.

"Well,_ Captain,_ I guess this one is all up to you to discern the best course of action," The Doctor commented with a smile, yet not taking her stare off her trusty clipboard.

-Z-

And so, approximately forty-five minutes later, in the usual classy NERV detention cell...

The small room contained six figures, the purple haired boy awakening on a hardened bench. Trunks was disorientated and extremely annoyed, as he usually was in that gap between sleep and breakfast.

The forms of Captain Katsuragi, Doctor Akagi, Sub-Commander Fuyutski, two NERV Section Two agents and the solitary form of Lieutenant Maya Ibuki stood about him in a semi-circle.

Now, Trunks can be said as being notably more receptive to his surroundings than his companion Goten. His mind at this point, instantly registered the facts that he had: 1. screwed up the jump into the Time Chamber; 2. been shunted into some weird place against his will; 3. been smashed into a large steel building and knocked unconscious and now, 4. (Which he currently considered the most important factor) he had been captured by strange members of this weird place and 5. He was _really_ hungry...

"Now then, young man, if you'd be so kind as to tell us exactly _who_ you are and just exactly _what _you were doing in one of our armament buildings," The sub commander inquired sternly. They had already calculated that the building in question was the last place that one of the energy spikes had disappeared to, and the appearance of this child in a supposedly sealed structure was just too coincidental for them to ignore.

He wiped some sleep from his eyes, "Whaz that, old dude?" he slurred, yawning widely and crossing his legs under him.

"What were you doing in our armament building?" repeated the commander more sternly, a little stung by being referred to as the 'old dude'.

"I have a headache..." mumbled the boy, hissing as he touched a bump on his head. He ignored the question as his stomach started rumbling.

"I asked you a question!" the older man barked.

Trunks' eye twitched, the loudness causing his head to throb. He glared at the old man.

"I really don't care..." responded Trunks coldly, glancing idly around the room with an unreadable expression as he searched for Goten's ki.

"Look kid, just answer some-" Misato started to speak, but was unable to finish.

"-QUIET!" Trunks barked out, interrupting the Captain and causing his own headache to worsen. He was set on finding his fusion partner and getting home before he got in some _real_ trouble, and was sure that if he didn't break out of this prison soon he'd probably get grounded.

"Kid, look, just do as you're told..." said one of the agents gruffly to the stranger, whose face slowly slid from a semi-frustrated stare to a sly grin; a smirk of the likes none of them had ever seen matched before, except for perhaps on the face of their Supreme Commander, Gendo Ikari.

Trunks' smirk turned into a kind smile, _too kind_, "Here's what _I_ think _you_ should do: You're going to let me go right now, or I'm going to make you regret it for the rest of your lives... Both seconds of it," Trunks advised, his smile not reaching his eyes, a wafer-thin layer of composure holding in his temper.

Misato inclined her head, and in an attempt to counter this she opened the cell door, revealing several more NERV agents waiting. Waiting until the stranger had noticed them she turned back, waiting for a straight response from the intruder, giving him her own version of a sly grin, "I doubt it." she replied calmly.

He opened his mouth to speak, then suddenly blinked as he sensed something, "Goten is here... He's _close..._" Trunks contemplated out loud as he stood up, looking upwards towards the direction of Goten's ki signal. He took one sudden step forward in the direction of the signal, his movement inadvertently startling the two agents into action.

Now up to this point Trunks _had_ remained relatively calm despite the situation, which he hadn't _actually_ admitted was severely ticking him off, and the next action from the geniuses at NERV popped that thin bubble of calm and _finally_ taught NERV a lesson it had needed teaching for years now.

Never mess with what you don't understand.

The two agents grabbed Trunks by the shoulders and pinned him back down onto the cot.

That did it.

The Saiyan's eyes suddenly widened in shock as his face twisted into a mask of rage, "Get your hands off me!" he screamed, his voice almost inhumanly loud. Both agents recoiled in horror as the boy's eyes flashed from blue to a rich emerald green, his outline starting to glow a pulsing gold.

The remaining agents poured into the room at the sound of the boy's enraged voice and surrounded him just as he began his march.

Trunks cocked his head with bared teeth, "_So_, you want to see what happens when you piss off a Saiyan, do you? Well if you think I'm bad, then you just wait 'till my _dad_ gets here!"

That pulsing outline erupted outwards in a flash of gold, the solid steel door blowing off its hinges due to the sudden release of energy and hurling every other member of the room against the walls in awe.

Misato looked at the hovering, blazing child in horror, "What the hell are you?"

A smirk tugged at Trunks' mouth, "Sorry, lady," he said, the room lighting up more as two orbs of shimmering energy formed in his palms, "No more questions."

"_Gotta go._" Trunks grinned, pulling his hands back behind his body and aimed himself at a weak point in the wall. He then made his 'subtle' escape, "Victory Cannon!" he roared, thrusting his hands forward and releasing the two orbs combined together in a brilliant yellow ki blast out through the door, blowing a gargantuan hole in the side of NERV headquarters and giving the Geofront what could only be described as an N2 mine makeover.

Super Saiyan Trunks erupted from the smoke. his aura twirling behind him as he came to a halt in mid-air above the Geofront. He eyed the landscape around him, sensing Goten was somewhere close.

"Yeah, that's it! No one screws with the son of the Saiyan prince and heir to Capsule Corp!" he bellowed down at the headquarters below. He lowered himself down back through the hole in NERV central and onto a walkway.

The boy dropped into a sitting position, still in his Super Saiyan form, waiting for Goten or, just for fun, any fool who wanted to try and get in his way.

It was at some point later that NERV Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari had just had a report dropped on his desk (which he had to turn back over as the force of the explosion had hurled it, _he_ and many important documents across the room), which he read with a small amount of curiosity. It containined the small amount of information they had about the intruder. Gendo Ikari, frowning, now had full knowledge of the Saiyan within his domain, and fully intended to do something about it...

-Z-

In a thrashed detention cell far below, several figures stood frozen in place, still pinned against the wall, each with varying degrees of singed clothes and fuzzed hair. "_Well..._" said Misato dryly, pausing to pat out a small fire on her flight jacket, "...We showed him."

_ to be continued..._

-α-

[AN] Another reupload and another chapter done. I'll get onto the next one and put it back up ASAP.

I'll see you in Chapter 3: The game starts...


	3. Chapter 3: The Game Begins

[A/N] Promises kept, next chapter redone and put back up. Let's continue, shall we?

**Eva Possibilities and Fusion Pandemonium: The misadventures of Gotenks**

**Chapter 3: The Game Begins**

Trunks sat on the walkway near Eva-01, his feet dangling over the 80 metre drop below, and was currently contemplating three things: 1. Breakfast; 2. Locating Goten; 3. Lunch. Any further plans could wait 'till later. And so he proceeded to implement task number one on his list, hopefully before he killed someone out of frustration. And so the young Demi-Saiyan pulled himself up and trotted off along the walkway, ignoring the multiple downed ceilings and girders half-blocking the entrance way.

"They started it…" He muttered.

"…Locking me up without breakfast" he added indignantly, weaving around the rubble and out into the corridor.

It was also lucky that his Double Buster attack had knocked out surveillance systems across over 25% of headquarters, basically meaning that NERV had absolutely no idea that he had re-entered headquarters again from the air and that they now had a walking, talking, 4 foot weapon of mass-destruction wandering about the depths of their top-security facility looking for a free meal. Also, due to a combination of being lost in thought plus his malnutrition, he had completely failed to notice the hundred foot tall purple/green bio-mechanical fighting machine that he had been sitting in front of for the past five minutes and had just calmly walked by. Nor did he notice the strangely large, yet somewhat cold, ki signal it was giving off.

What could he say; he was hungry...

-α-

Goten by this point had pretty much dried off any remaining tears and had resolved himself to the task of finding his comrade and getting home. This was _not_ of course before satisfying his growling stomach, which he did by consuming pretty much anything that looked even _remotely_ close to being edible within Rei's kitchen; ignoring several vocal warnings from the First about the dangers of consuming week old sandwiches, tea leaves and that funny looking spider he found on top of her breadbin (he _did_ live up in the mountains).

How it was that his small stomach could assimilate the solid products that he had eaten and convert them into useful energy was probably beyond even the gods themselves. This was all of course only an appetiser whilst the several ready-meals in Rei's small fridge all cooked simultaneously in her microwave, which he then piled on two plates and proceeded to wolf down at such a dangerous speed that it would've thrashed any normal human digestive system.

Ayanami stood at the edge of her eating area, staring at the small bottomless pit of a child as he proceeded to eat pretty much everything in her apartment. Her attempts at protest had all been unsuccessful for two reasons: 1. the boy wasn't listening or paying attention in any way shape or form (in fact, all that was going through his head were the words 'still hungry' over and over, dwarfing everything around him) and 2. Rei had allowed herself to become so stunned, that half the time all her protests came out as shocked were blinks of her eyes.

Goten did at last notice her presence in the doorway and paused for a second (with most of a microwave meal still in his mouth) and spoke, his fork in the air still containing another half of a ready-meal.

"Ghum… Djooo Vont Shum?" he muffled, offering her a fork with his only free hand. Rei at this point just stood there, her ability of speech (well... what ability she _had_) completely gone, as the boy swallowed down the entire contents of his mouth without even chewing. He paused to look at her, waiting. The only response she could give with the exception of silence (which she would have preferred to give) was to incline her head a few millimetres to the left and then to the right in declination of his offer. At this the boy shrugged his shoulders and instantly gobbled down the food on his fork before returning to his plate and gobbling down pretty much the entire contents in under thirty seconds. He then turned to the remaining plate of food and chose to simply shovel half the food into his mouth, swallow it, then do the same with the other, swallowing it somewhat loudly, before leaning back into his chair and releasing an overly loud _burp_.

After this, a euphoric smile spread across his face as he patted himself on the chest.

"Ahhh…"He sighed happily, "… Nothing like a light breakfast to start the day!" he said, waving his index finger for emphasis.

Rei just blinked silently again in reply. Her thought processes had now, at last, managed to reset themselves as she summed up her _guest: __' He breaks my roof; he breaks my bed; he breaks my ribs; I think he broke my tailbone; now he eats all my food...'_ she was now finding it very, very difficult to remain the polite host as she remained lost in her thoughts, oblivious to the small orange-clad form trotting curiously around her room. A single spike of his hair stuck up in her field of view, like a shark swimming about as Goten continued looking for something.

A moment later the Saiyan found what he was looking for, and since he couldn't find a glass in her cupboards, and since those last three bowls of Miso soup were _awfully_ salty, he eyed a beaker across the room.

Rei, at this point, was still locked in her internal monologue, only half registering the boy's movements. _'He tramples my clothes, he steals my towel, he drinks my soul, he stole my cell phone, he disorganised my kit-_' Rei's smooth mind stalled to a screeching, _earth-shattering _halt in mid-thought. At that second she couldn't think. She couldn't register anything properly. It was one of those times when she didn't know how to act, and for some reason, she couldn't even _think_ to herself, and so she settled on whispering to herself, shocked.

"Drank…my…soul?" this came out in one short breath, as her free eye followed Goten as he walked up to her, beaming a smile and holding up an empty beaker.

"That was refreshing! Can I have another?" he looked up, smiling expectantly.

"Drank…my…_soul?_" She whispered again to herself again, her eye focused in on the empty beaker in his hand. However, at this point Goten's small ears managed to pick up part of her comment.

"I did?" he asked, staring at the beaker also now, "Tasted like water to me," he commented as he examined the beaker closely and the drop in the bottom that remained. If Goten could be classed as bewildered, then now would be one of those many, _many_ times.

Now, although it was true that Rei could get the beaker refilled with the liquid she referred to as her 'soul' easily enough, this was one of those 'thought-that-counts' situations, and now she was crossed between stunned, frustrated, and horrified that the boy had so innocently and unknowingly just consumed her soul.

Goten's small Saiyan head (not counting the hair), worked as hard as it could, the cogs turning as he attempted to make sense of the situation and came to a rather strange (yet admittedly _fair,_ considering the situation) conclusion _'I get it! Here, soul must mean water!'_ he happily thought; glad to have that problem solved.

Rei at this instant felt her conflicting emotions bubble up, with all the recent events caused by this child, they formied what she knew to be anger: an emotion she had barely ever found herself experiencing, but now… She was fuming with anger like a finger pulling slowly back on a trigger as it built up to its peak. Keeping in mind said building up of anger took approximately three seconds and could _maybe_ have dissipated if given time (and I stress the _if_)…

It was Goten's hopeless gullibility that caused this next action, and I'm afraid no one can really argue that he brought it on himself...

So as he held up the beaker to her, Rei Ayanami's brow compressing down into a deep frown, Goten spoke:

"Umm, can I have another soul please?" he asked innocently, and barely even registered as Rei, for only a split second let out a small growl and bared her teeth , her arm swinging round as hard as she could… _Smack!_ Her palm struck flat on the small Saiyan's cheek, in the exact same spot as before, but about ten times harder, sending him spinning sideways about a metre through the air before landing flat on his side.

Rei's breath came in short gasps, still in that position, her arm extended and teeth still glaring, before her anger evaporated about a thousand times faster than it came. She stared down at him as she recomposed herself, and more importantly the bright red handprint on his face, she was also aware of the pain in her hand from the force of her slap.

If Goten had managed a defence in his facial area by simply clenching his facial muscles somewhat or increasing his power level, then the blow wouldn't have even fazed him, but being Goten he constantly kept his guard down. The bottom line of this is: That hurt like _**hell**_! As the searing pain and heat from his left cheek came through into his mind, and the small trickle of blood from a point on his cheek where her fingernail had inadvertently pierced (Also going to show just how damn _hard_ she must've smacked him one for her to do this to a Saiyan) and he slowly reached both hands to his cheek and rolled over, sliding up onto his knees, as the inevitable happened "BWAHAHAAHAAHA!" he screamed about five times louder than before straight up to the heavens (hell they probably _head_ him) "I'M SORRY, MWAHHAHH!" he sobbed, his eyes streaming with tears up at Rei, who was now regarding him curiously, "YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO HIT ME!" he screamed up at her, what training he had restraining him from going Super Saiyan and turning the unsuspecting injured pilot into dust with a ki blast.

Rei found it difficult to be angry, but found it easy to be apologetic: it was in her nature (for what nature she had), and though she had now formed her opinions about the troublemaker, he was after all only a lost child, and then there was something in her nature that confused her: compassion. Why she felt it was a mystery to her, she had her purpose, where was compassion needed in piloting EVA and battling the Angels? Even her true purpose for being was confusing to her. Either way, she _did_ feel sorry for the small boy and possibly, she contemplated, because it was her action which caused injury to him and therefore it was now necessary to correct her mistake. She found herself going round in mental circles as she stared down at him, her emotionless mask in place, and so in the end she just proceeded and acted out of instinct.

Goten barely even registered Rei walk to her bathroom as he continued sobbing (somewhat quieter by now though) holding his throbbing cheek in his hands. He'd been smashed through walls, blasted by evil pink monsters, and even knocked out multiple times, but in his experience being slapped was the most painful thing he knew in his register of 'Goten's things that hurt'.

Rei winced slightly as she got down on her knees in front of the crying boy. She raised the cold compress in her hand and pressed it softly against his cheek.

The heat dissipated in his cheek and Goten suddenly felt the girl's soothing action on his face as his tears slowed down to a stop under the soothing feeling, under what felt like a kind of emotional forgiveness for whatever horrible thing he had done.

"I… Apologise." The kneeling pilot suddenly spoke as she soothed the Saiyan's red cheek.

_Sniff _"Didn't have to hit me… Again," he spoke out, staring at the floor.

"You drank my soul," she reminded him.

Goten stood up to his full height in front of Rei, she did the same a second later placing the compress on the ground, looking down at him.

Rei did cock her head slightly as Goten hung his head down, clenching his hands in front of him and gave a respectful bow to the girl "I'm really very sorry for my inconvenience, Miss, and for drinking your soul and eating some of your food without asking, and messing up your room a bit." he said solemnly, apologising in a way his mother had always taught him to.

Ignoring some of the understatements in his apology, she spoke out in her usual monotone, "Accepted" and that one word was enough to return Goten's happy-go-lucky smile to his face.

"Can… you help me find my friend now?" he asked quietly and meekly to the girl who regarded him for a second before going to get her cell phone.

In the depths of NERV, in a dark room feared and revered by pretty much everyone in the organisation, the Supreme Commander was finishing reading the damage reports to his headquarters, the bottom line giving a figure in yen which could easily be mistaken for an international telephone number. Slipping into his trademark seating position (You know the one) and from behind it, he stared at that figure and let out a small sneer, just as his phone rang.

"Yes?" he asked (well… _demanded_)

A female voice spoke over the phone "Rei Ayanami on the phone for you, sir." She then waited for the obvious confirmation that would come.

"Very well, put her through," Gendo replied.

"Sir" the disembodied voice confirmed, a beeping noise coming over the phone a second later to signal connection.

"Yes, Rei?" the Commander enquired in a tone that was noticeably less than formal that which he used with others.

"Sir. I have a request," She began.

"Yes?"

"My apartment was damaged as a result of the attack by the Third Angel. It has become uninhabitable." she explained in her usual no nonsense way.

"Explain..." The commander enquired curiously. As far as he knew that area of the city had remained undamaged during the attack.

Rei considered this for a second before answering "I returned home from the infirmary as ordered, and when I arrived my apartment was severely damaged. It also containing an…" she hesitated as she contemplated a way to describe the boy without using the word _intruder_.

"… A _what_?" the commander demanded, if anything he was not one to be kept waiting.

"An unknown person." she offered.

"Who is this person? Is he NERV personnel?" The commander asked.

"A child, sir. I am unaware as to his identity, though he refers to himself as 'Goten', approximately of age seven, four feet in height." She described in a constant monotone voice.

"You wish for me to ask NERV intelligence to apprehend the child?" The commander enquired, unsure as to why Rei would contact him directly for such a request.

"I am unsure as how to proceed. The child claims to have caused this damage, though this seems illogical, and he appears to be seeking a 'friend' with whom he has been separated from." she explained.

"How extensive is the damage?" the Commander enquired as a suspicion dawned.

"The child seems to have crashed down through my ceiling and through my bed." Rei explained, this possibly being the longest conversations of her life.

"Rei, hold the line," Ikari ordered before reaching for his desk phone and dialling Dr Akagi.

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi had been torn between the tasks of personally monitoring either the repairs to Unit-01 or the damage to the Magi network links caused by the unknown 'boy' when her phone rang.

"Ritsuko Akagi," the doctor announced as she wedged the handset between her shoulder and ear.

"Doctor," The Commander's unmistakable voice came through.

"Yes sir?" Ritsuko enquired, half surprised by the Commander's call.

"Tell me; the second energy spike, assuming the first was the child we encountered, what would be the approximate landing point of the second?" The commander both enquired and ordered.

"_Sir_?" The doctor asked, confused why he asked such a question.

"Doctor…" Gendo said, a very subtle note of frustration in his voice.

"Yes, sir," The good doctor sighed, running a few calculations through the Magi.

A 3d image of the terrain of Tokyo-3 filled her screen. An x representing where Trunks had been found appeared. It was linked by a dotted to another x indicating the point the large energy spike had first split in two. It took the Magi the smallest fraction of a second to calculate a second vector as another dotted line extended down from that point to a third x. Seconds later a simple 3d map of Tokyo-3 was overlaid on the diagram. One x was directly on top of one of the armament buildings as expected. The second one however made the Doctor stifle a gasp as the MAGI's AI immediately brought up the relevant information about that location.

"Found it, sir..." The doctor spoke down the receiver.

"_And?_" The commander demanded.

"According to the Magi, the second form would have landed in the old end of town, almost _exactly_ on the First Child's residence," the doctor explained, her voice bordering on being morbid.

"Thank you, doctor…" The commander finished.

"But sir, don't you-" she was cut off by the sound of a phone being put down.

The doctor continued to stare at the image on her screen for a few seconds. If anything, Rei was in serious danger.

The commander frowned to himself as he realised just how much danger _his_ Rei was in, and spoke back into his cell phone to Rei.

"Rei," the Commanders voice came back onto the line, in a much more serious tone this time.

"Sir?" Rei asked in monotone as usual, yet there was slight anticipation in there too.

"Rei, this 'child' is extremely dangerous. Proceed with extreme caution," the commander ordered.

Rei, while listening to her commanders wishes seriously, couldn't help but cock her head sideways and stare at Goten, who was now preoccupied with a butterfly which had landed on his nose and was focused on it cross-eyed, smiling with his trademarked hopelessly innocent smile. Goten, who now thought this was extremely funny, stood up slowly and walked up to Rei with the butterfly still on the tip of his nose and looked up to her, not before the butterfly fluttered off to another part of the room. Goten giggled and trotted off slowly after it.

Rei regarded him silently. _'Extremely dangerous?'_ she thought. She had never even _contemplated_ questioning the Commander's decisions before, though for the first time she felt herself having to interoperate them, _'Dangerous, I believe so, but I do not think he would intentionally hurt me.'_

"Rei?" the commander said to ensure she was still there.

"Yes, sir?" she confirmed.

"Have you been injured?" he asked, his voice becoming quieter now, and Rei could hear a subtle level of concern.

"I have not been injured by the boy." she said simply, forgetting to mention the unintentional 'bear hug' he had given her _and _the accidental pushes over and the resulting bruises on her behind.

"That's good, Rei. Now don't worry, I will dispatch some forces to subdue the _child._" Gendo said concernedly.

Rei considered this for a moment before speaking, choosing her words carefully as not to _actually_ be questioning her Commander's orders "I... do not believe that to be necessary," Rei said as she watched Goten, who was now resting on his elbows on the floor watching the butterfly which was now perched on the bedpost and, _strangely_, seemed to be watching him back.

"How so?" The Commander asked, now genuinely curious.

"I have managed to subdue the child twice now sir." Rei explained.

Rei couldn't see the commander's eyebrows rise in surprise and, regaining his composure, he spoke again, "I see… how?"

"I… struck him." was all that came out, Rei not liking to go into any detail about... well... _anything_ really.

It was then that it dawned on the Supreme Commander that this person and the one who effectively just huffed and puffed and blew half of headquarters down could possibly present completely different levels of threat, and so he continued, "Hmm, _indeed..._ You can reason with him?" The commander enquired.

"Yes… I believe so." She would have stopped with 'yes', but the child was very unpredictable in her opinion.

"Very well…" Gendo began, contemplating his command for a second before speaking it "Do you believe that you can get the child to accompany you to NERV?" Gendo asked, a plan forming in his head as he stared at the energy spike representing Gotenks and then comparing it to that of the Sachiel, the third stage Super Saiyan's energy output dwarfing that of the messenger completely. He smirked behind his hands as he realised how he could make this situation (as the cold commander always could) work to his advantage.

"You wish for me to assist him in finding his companion?" Rei asked, attempting to find meaning in the commander's orders.

"No" Gendo spoke simply, though decided to elaborate for emphasis, "I believe that would be extremely dangerous." He explained as he contemplated (surprisingly accurately) that the two could merely be pieces of the puzzle to form that third complete form that had been monitored, and he was not ready to allow that. That is… not until he was sure he could _control_ it. And so he continued and finished off his orders, "The child's companion is somewhere in headquarters, so leave that to me. Just try and bring him in, is that clear, Rei?" the commander asked in the caring tone he reserved for her alone. If anything, he had confidence in several of the First's abilities, and was quite aware just how trustable she could be, especially to a gullible child, though he would never order his precious First Child to do such a thing; if anything he admired her innocence, but that didn't mean he would never manipulate her _indirectly_…

"Yes, sir..." Rei finished, the ringing sound of a disconnected phone line coming over a second later as the Commander hung up.

Rei sighed inwardly as this situation finally seemed to have a conclusion; her trust in the Commander's abilities was absolute.

Goten turned to his new found 'friend', and though she had habit of hitting him, he still liked her (It's Goten… Hell, he'd probably like Gendo… for about thirty or so seconds).

"Are we going somewhere?" Goten asked, jumping up happily.

Rei nodded, and after composing herself, she walked to the door saying nothing.

"_Welllll?_" Goten asked to Rei, causing her to pause at the doorway.

Rei opened the door, turning her head and looking down at the expectant Saiyan _'he requires so much communication'_ she thought, looking down into his eyes. Goten stayed in his place waiting, meeting here deep crimson eyes (well… _eye_) unwavering, and so she spoke "What?"

"Well, where are we going?" he spoke louder as if repeating himself, shaking his arms up and down rapidly, as he does.

"NERV headquarters." she spoke simply before continuing on out the door.

She only got a few steps before, to her surprise, Goten hopped clear over her head, performing a little flip in mid air before landing perfectly on the railing outside; a four story drop on the other side. This time it was Goten's turn to cock his head curiously.

"Why?"

Rei let out an almost silent sigh as she realised the boy wouldn't move until she answered "I cannot help you find your companion, but the personnel at NERV are aware of his location," she explained.

Goten remained silent as those cogs started working again _'she uses lots of long words...'_ he contemplated before realising she was basically telling him that she was taking him to Trunks. This took several seconds to finally click in.. "Then let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" he shouted happily, jumping up and down on the railing.

Rei, ignoring his enthusiasm walked over and grabbed his whole body in her free arm mid-jump "You were endangering yourself," She said, answering the question she knew he was going to ask as she put him down, the act putting as much strain on her damaged body as it took to grab him.

"Okay..." he spoke, calming himself down with great strength of will. He took a place by her side and walked off down the hallway towards the stairs which Goten ended up effortlessly jumping down, leaps at a time.

Several minutes later as they walked down the street, Rei sighed inwardly at the peace around her _'I did not think it was possible for him to be silent. I still do not believe his behaviour to be dangerous… Childish perhaps, yes, he is childish. But then he is a child, so why do I seem so surprised by his behaviour?' _Regardless of her turmoil, Rei was just silently happy that her internal monologue had managed to reassert itself.

At this time Goten's thought processes were focused temporarily on his new companion _'I wonder how she got hurt so bad. I wonder why she doesn't talk much either,'_ Goten contemplated for a second before his mind screeched to a halt as he contemplated what he knew, or more to the point _didn't know_, about his companion. He ran ahead of her a few paces and stopped directly in her path, his arms outstretched, blocking her from passing.

Rei stopped again and looked down at her unpredictable companion.

"What?" she asked, this time curious.

"My mom always says 'if you're gonna be proper friends then you gotta have a proper introduction'," Goten explained to the pilot.

She was about to speak when Goten suddenly extended his hand to Rei "I'm Goten, Son Goten, nice to meet you." he said with a smile, looking straight into her face.

Rei cocked her head curiously _'he wants to be… friends? Why?'_ "I do not understand." she stated simply

"Huh? What don't you understand?" Goten asked curiously, his hand still outstretched.

"Why do you wish to be _'proper friends'_?" Rei enquired.

Now it was Goten's turn again to cock his head as he giggled softly "Silly; 'better to be friends than to be enemies'. That's something my _dad_ always says," He explained almost proudly.

_'That seems logical. He wants me as a friend, acceptable.'_ she contemplated as she regarded his outstretched hand, and quickly worked out what he was waiting for, as her slender hand slowly reached up and grasped his slightly smaller one and spoke back "…I am Ayanami, Rei Ayanami..." _'I am unsure if this is entirely truthful but…'_ "...nice to meet you."

Goten smile increased in width as he shook her hand somewhat harder than Rei would have liked, but she didn't complain.

"Let's go then Rei-kun" Goten said happily as he stepped back out of Rei's way.

Rei regarded him for a second, not breaking her mask or neutrality _'I still do not understand why he wishes for friendship with me'_ she gave up on this thought as quick as it came and continued on her way. Goten followed in close behind to her right, his smile suddenly intensifying as he sensed the familiar ki signal of Trunks, and they were heading straight for it.

He contemplated them flying straight to wherever it was they were going, but after looking at Rei's body up and down (innocently), he decided she was too fragile to grab hold of and drag through the air at high speeds.

-α-

_Meanwhile…_

In the evacuated second NERV canteen. A short purple-haired boy had two chicken drumsticks in each hand and one in his mouth as he went back to his table, which was now loaded with pretty much all the food in the canteen's buffet. He had already finished off all the sandwiches and chocolate bars. His spirits were lifting as he began to wolf down the equivalent to about $300 in food and climbing.

"Where's Goten?" he thought out loud through a mouthful of sushi before sensing his Ki signal somewhere distant and very slowly closing, and so he shrugged his shoulders "meh, I'll just wait for him to come to me," he said before finishing his little pig-out session by rapidly consuming one last whole plate of spaghetti and munching it down in under three seconds.

"Oooh yeah, that's the stuff!" he sighed, sitting back releasing a loud burp. _'Now, I'll just wait here for Goten. I'm sure he'll find me easily enough,'_ he contemplated as he laid down onto his side on the cushioned bench. He closed his eyes and let out a long yawn _'mmm nothing like an after dinner nap.'_ he thought contentedly as he drifted peacefully off to sleep.

-α-

_Meanwhile (again)_

Several miles away (and in a completely different plane of existence)...

In a bright laboratory in the heart of the large dome-shaped building known as Capsule Corp. Headquarters, two Saiyans, a half-Saiyan, a worried mother and an equally as worried mother/scientist were gathered round a screen displaying several complex formulas, graphs and energy readings.

"So what does it mean?" Chi-Chi asked in frustration.

"Grr... I'll start again _shall I_! I'll explain it _slowly!_" Bulma snapped, both as frustrated and worried as Chi-Chi was.

"Right! First; Goku, you're right in that the boys _did_ try to punch a hole into another universe if these readings are anything to go by. Second; No they are not _in_ the hyperbolic time chamber. That would be impossible from their geographical location. And third and _finally_; yes, I think I can explain what happened… They were pulled into an unknown plane of existence. Not so much another world like the time chamber, I'm talking about a completely different universe altogether. I think this was caused by some kind of mutual dimensional instability at the focus point..." she looked up to see she was surrounded by blank expressions. She sighed, "...The boys screwed it up, and _someone_ in that other world did something at that point too, and together they accidently forced open some kind of rift and I can only assume the boys were pulled in," Bulma finished, giving the others time to assimilate the information.

"So what can we do?" Gohan enquired, desperate to help his brother and young Trunks.

"Are they alright?" Chi-Chi asked, still worried yet marginally relieved she knew what was going on... sort of.

"Humph, I don't know about your brat Kakarott, but Trunks can take care of himself…" Vegeta interrupted smugly.

"OH I'M GLAD YOU'RE SO DAMN CALM!" Bulma shouted in her husband's face, losing her thin veil of calm over his uncaring attitude, also causing the mighty Saiyan Prince to recoil slightly in shock from his wife's outburst.

She took a steadying breath, "_Ahem_… As I was saying before I was interrupted _again..._ Gohan; I think there _could_ be something we can do. With the energy readings I've taken I think I can rig up a generator to simulate the dimensional disturbance that the boy's locked onto in order to create their vortex. In theory we can therefore use the generator to simulate the conditions on the other side of the breach in that other universe at that very same instant the boys attempted to breach the walls of reality."

"You can simulate the conditions on the other side all you want, but we'd still need to punch a hole of our own on _this end_ though," Vegeta added, his eyebrow raised.

"I know that, dear husband, and that's where you and Goku come in…" Vegeta winced as he had a horrible idea as to what Bulma was going to suggest, "… Gohan on his own may be able to generate enough power to rip open a vortex due to his mystic power up the Elder Kai gave him, however what we need to do is simulate an energy burst similar to _Gotenks'_, and though Gohan's ki must be similar to Goten's, it is probably in no way similar to Trunks', and therefore reduce our chances of ever pulling this off successfully and getting back our boys. _So,_ the bottom line is; we need someone with a ki signal as similar to Gotenks' as possible and, like I said, that's where you and Goku come in, my dear."

"NO!" Vegeta snapped suddenly, his fear of what her plan entailed proven real.

"Quiet, Vegeta!" Bulma barked at her husband "You don't even know what I was going to say!" She roared back.

"OH, YES I DO!" Vegeta shouted back "It involves a word beginning with _F,_ ending with _N,_ and a stupid little dance routine involving me and Kakarott!" He said loudly, finishing his ranting guess at Bulma's plan.

"Why how _did_ you guess, Vegeta?" Bulma asked cutely, her hands clasping together.

"No, woman, I won't do it!" Vegeta said, folding his arms and inclining away, effectively trying to put his foot down on the situation.

"OH YES YOU DAMN WELL WILL!" Bulma went right up to his face, roaring her command, causing Vegeta to recoil slightly against a wall. He tried to speak another objection before Bulma sealed it, "VEGETA YOU'RE GOING TO GO AND GET MY BOY BACK, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!" she half-screamed in her husband's face, the prince himself finding it very difficult not to show his terror in front of Goku and Gohan.

"Humph... _fine_… I'll do it" he mumbled, folding his arms with a frown on his face. Half-praying Goku would at least _try_ and object too, only to get:

"Sounds like a plan to me! When do we begin?" Goku asked his oldest childhood friend.

"Soon, Goku. It'll only take a few hours to rig up the generator which you can then store in a capsule and reset it for your return trip," Bulma said with a smile, her confidence in her own abilities along with those of her husband and her friends managed to calm her worries about her child's safety.

"Yup, all it takes is a woman's touch," spoke Chi-Chi with a grin, satisfied that it was only a matter of time before her boy was back with her, and although she _was_ worried about her Goten, she did know he could take care of himself as long as he was with Trunks...not that she'd ever admit that, of course.

-α-

_Back in the Evaverse…_

It was as Goten and Rei headed through the endless winding corridors of NERV that things began to take an interesting turn. Trunks was starting to stir at that point, and the First along with Goten had entered one of NERV's notorious elevators and hit the button down to the level containing the shortest routes between the EVA cages and the Commander's offices, and thus began one thing that was painfully familiar within Nerv:

A long, quiet, elevator ride.

"Does it always take this long?" asked Goten to his blue-haired companion (Goten doesn't like quiet)

"…Yes." She said simply after a pause. _'How could it possibly take any less or more time? This child confuses me more and more'_.

"Well it's-" Goten began, but was interrupted by the ding of the elevator, "Is this our floor?" he enquired hopefully.

"No," she replied just as simply, the doors sliding open and the forms of lieutenant's Aoba and Ibuki entering the carriage. They hit the button for their mutual floor, the doors sliding shut and it began moving again, neither noticing the form of Goten who was now hiding behind Rei.

Maya hated the atmosphere in these elevators and had a habit of trying to breach the unearthly silence they create. "_Rei_… So how are you today?" The young technician asked the pilot.

Rei regarded the young woman for a second before replying "No problems ma'am, my injuries are healing at a satisfactory rate."

"Well that's good to know…erm… I didn't know there were any tests scheduled for today. Check-up is it?" she enquired lightly, hoping to strike up a conversation with the estranged girl.

"No ma'am, I'm here to escort this child to see the commander," Rei said, not knowing Goten had hidden himself quite well behind her skirt. Aoba picked up on this and, frowning curiously, turned round.

"A_ child?_ To see the _Commander_?" He echoed as he turned round to see who the unfortunate soul was and what he could possibly have done to force him into an audience with the Supreme Commander. He took a step back so he could see behind Rei and, spotting the small form of Goten hiding, gave the little Saiyan a smile "Hey there kid, what's your name?" He asked nicely, trying to relax the obviously shy child.

"Ahh… my name's… Goten," he said, giving another small bow of greeting, earning a smile from the long haired lieutenant, just as Maya turned round and gave the small boy a kind smile of her own.

"Hey there, Goten…" Maya said, bending down and brushing the boy's hair with her hand, "What brings you into our depths?" she asked lightly as the boy met her eyes, and managed to smile back as his shyness began to disappear.

"I'm… Looking for a friend, his name's Trunks," he explained to the two lieutenants.

"A friend? Here; why don't you tell me what he looks like and I'll have a look around for you." She offered with a soft smile, thinking the boy obviously had gotten lost and was searching for someone.

"_Well..._" He began, stopping to think about a description "…He has hair… about as long as yours…" he paused again, indicating Lt. Ibuki's neck length hair before continuing "He's a bit taller than me..."

"…And?" Maya offered, trying to help.

"He has blue eyes, but his hair is purple and he wears shorts." He offered, completing his explanation.

"Oh so he's-" Maya froze as an image from earlier in the day flashed through her eyes; of a boy in a detention cell "H-his name is Trunks then, is it?" She stammered, unconsciously running a hand through her hair at the point where a small chunk had been singed off.

"Uh huh," Goten confirmed, Aoba picking up on the reason for Maya's disturbed face.

"Umm, _purple hair?_" she offered "Not spiked up and blonde?" she enquired.

"_Ohh_, that's just when he transforms into a Super Saiyan," He explained, now having everyone in the elevators attention, "He likes to dos that when he gets angry." he explained with a smile.

"He looked pretty angry to me," Maya said in a shaky voice.

"So he's you're friend, then?" Aoba asked the smiling boy.

"Uh huh, but I'm not as strong as him. He's older too, you see." he explained, the revelation that he wasn't at the same level of power as Trunks relaxed the others in the elevator somewhat.

"You have a rather strong friend." stated Aoba, subtly trying to prod out more information.

"You're friend really does get cranky in the mornings." said Maya light-heartedly.

"Yup! That's Trunks alright!" Goten said, half-laughing, "When he gets angry and transforms, I have to turn Super Saiyan too just to stay out of his way."

"Yeah well you'd ha-" began Ibuki, before freezing in mid-syllable as her mind processed the previous sentence "…What do you mean, you have to turn Super Saiyan too?'"

"Oh, I can become a Super Saiyan too, lookie!" He said innocently, as he brought his fists down to his sides, his power level being forced up in the process. Rei cocked her head curiously, Aoba eyes narrowed, and Maya stepped back in terrified anticipation as to what was about to follow…

"**HYAAAAHH**!" he shouted, his ki flowing up through his body and forcing his hair up into a familiar spiked formation as his body exploded into Super Saiyan form, the energy rush suddenly pushing the others back against the small elevator's walls.

"My god…" Aoba gasped, staring at the small boy who appeared to be on fire, his hair flowing in the aura like a flame.

"…" Was all Rei could come out with, not noticing her eyes were widened in shock and her mouth was half open.

"Oh no… Not again…" Maya whimpered, backing up as much as she could.

"Told you!" he suddenly said with his usual smile. His aura settled down as his gold hair stood up, his still innocent emerald green eyes regarding the others.

"_S-Super Saiyan?_" Maya gaped.

"Yup, this is a Super Saiyan!" he replied happily.

"Incredible..." Aoba breathed as he walked closer to Goten and reached a hand for his spiked hair...

-α-

"Goten!" Trunks burst out of his waking drowsiness as he sensed the unmistakeable feeling of Goten powering up. His eyebrows flinched upwards suddenly as he felt the signal increase substantially in strength.

"Goten's gone Super Saiyan, but why? Maybe he's in trouble… I'd better find out." He said in general as he began his mutual power-up and he transformed suddenly into a Super Saiyan, smiling this time in half-anticipation. On a full stomach and after a nap he felt could stand up to anything.

-α-

_At the same time…_

"Trunks!" Goten's eyes suddenly widened as he sensed his friends power level increase and explode upwards as went Super.

"Your friend?" Maya asked, surprised, ignoring the boy's physical appearance for now, "You know where he is?"

"Yeah, I can sense power levels, so I can tell whenever he's close," he ran up to the elevator's control panel and hit the button for the next floor down, "I'm sorry, but I have to go…" he began to run out of the opening elevator before stopping, turning about bowing to Rei, "Umm.. Thank you for your hospitality, Rei-kun, and I apologise for any trouble I have caused," he finished before skidding around and running off down the corridor, his eyes half closed as he focused on the energy signal he could sense.

-α -

On the command bridge, Lieutenant Hyuuga, Captain Katsuragi and Commander Fuyutski were present to monitor the situation. Both of the energy signals encountered during the battle with the Third angel had re-emerged. Only this time... right inside the heart of NERV headquarters.

"Report" Demanded the voice of Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari as he sat down at his desk, sliding into his usual position.

-α-

"I guess I'll just have to make it easier to find me," Trunks grinned, his gold aura still flowing around him before looking about, his eyes stopping as they focused on the ceiling. "_Perfect_…" He grinned as he catapulted himself straight upwards through the roof, crashing through several floors before bursting free into the Geo-Front.

"Come on, Goten-kun, damn it!" he shouted as he tensed and raised his power level as high as it would go.

-α-

Goten's eyes shot upwards as he sensed Trunks' ki signal straight above him; it was climbing rapidly.

"Uh oh, Trunks must be calling for me," he said as, frantically looking for a way up; a fire exit, stairs, _anything_…

"Sir! One of the energy signals is now holding position in the Geo-Front, the second is directly below!" Hyuuga exclaimed in a loud voice (as he does).

_'Too soon! Too damn soon!'_ Gendo thought to himself. His sneer slowly sliding into a grin as an idea formed in his head.

"The Third Child is currently having a training simulation right now, is he not?" Gendo enquired.

"Y-yes, he is, but sir you _can't_…" Misato stammered as what he was implying dawned.

Ignoring her pleas, he continued "Get word to Dr Akagi immediately. Cancel the current experiment and prep Evangelion Unit-01 for immediate launch into to the Geo-Front!" he shouted. His plan was clear, and no one could really believe it, even Commander Fuyutski had his doubts.

"Captain!" the Commander snapped at his overly emotional subordinate.

"Y-yes sir," she replied solemnly as she nodded down to Lt. Hyuuga, indicating for him to send the orders down to the doctor, which he did so briskly, but also appearing unsure.

"Shinji." came Ritsuko's voice over the comm. system. The young Ikari turned his attention to her.

"Yes ma'am?" Shinji asked curiously and as nervously as usual.

"We just received word: An enemy has been detected within the Geo-Front" she explained.

"_N-now?"_ he asked, shocked, as he willed his EVA to place down the simulation rifle on the ground.

"Yes, I'm afraid that-"She began

"…Yeah yeah, I'm the only one who can stop it… I know" he sighed.

"I'm Sorry, Shinji" she spoke, genuinely pitying the teenager who was now being used for nothing more than his father's dirty-work.

"Ready?" she asked as she punched in some commands into the console, causing the attachments to Unit-01 to burst away, and the exit to the test area opened , leading to the launch catapults.

"Yeah… I'm ready" he sighed as his EVA was moved out of the test area and onto the catapult.

"Now Shinji," Began the doctor seriously, "When you reach the surface you will receive further instructions directly from your father, understood?"

"My father?" he asked nervously

"Yes, he is commanding this operation personally." she confirmed.

"Okay… let's get this over with" he sighed in a non-committed tone.

"..." She didn't respond as she stood up and turned to the tech who had interfaced with the launch pads before commanding, "Launch EVA!"

A button press and rocket explosion later, the gargantuan bio-mechanical fighting machine was sent hurtling towards the surface.

Trunks had managed to wait patiently, just as he sensed a somewhat large ki signal coming up towards the surface… fast.

"Goten? No... _What_?" he spoke out confusedly.

His eyes instinctively flung left, followed by his body as a giant platform slid out of the ground. The front slid down. And to Trunks' surprise, shock and horror, a gargantuan purple figure walked out of it, slumping forward, before standing up to full height. White eyes glowing, he felt something deep, dark and primal within them piercing into his very heart as he focused on its Ki signal at the same time.

"Umm… Goten?" he yelped, "_Help_?" he half-squeaked as he stared straight into the demonic visage of Evangelion Unit-01, before forcing down his fear and swinging into a fighting stance.

"This isn't good…"

_To be continued..._

[an] One more chapter redone, one more bit of fun. As I said, I'll try and get the rest up as soon as I can.

Anyhow… Coming up… A short match pitting Saiyan and EVA against each other throws all plans and assumptions out of the windows. But then, its only two little boys with no re-enforcements, once they're subdued all's right with the world, isn't it? That's what Gendo hopes, until the unexpected happens and things go from bad to worse, to much worse, to much much worse. All in the next chapter…

Chapter 4: Caught between an A.T field and a hard place.


	4. Chapter 4: Trapped Between an AT Field

[A/N] I repeat the apology for forcing those who enjoyed reading this fic to wait for it to be fully reuploaded, and am seriously sorry about the delay on this one, RL stuff kept intervening, but here it is, the latest redone chapter for your enjoyment. Also,on the bright side, only about 16 more chapters after this one. The fun hasn't nearly begun...

**Eva Possibilities and Fusion Pandemonium**

**Chapter 4: Trapped Between an A.T Field and a Hard Place**

The Third child was nervous to say the least as he set his monitor to focus on the half-kilometre long cylindrical blast-hole extending from the pyramid form of NERV headquarters. The sight was currently inspiring within him a feeling somewhere between baffled and worried, as he instantly led himself to believe (rather accurately) that his new 'enemy' was the cause of all this destruction, and images of creatures similar to Sachiel only ten times more menacing came to mind. He fearfully switched his monitor over to frontal view in order to see the entire geo-front in front of him, and spy his new enemy, only to see… nothing.

-Ω-

Trunks, at this point, was staring straight ahead, his flaming aura having since settled as he relaxed his power level (at maximum it should be noted), and this did kind of make him really hard to see from a distance. Although Shinji couldn't actually see Trunks at this time, it did little to qualm his fears. Trunks, however, now _his_ worries were far from calmed. He was both confused and terrified at the same time. This overly large and menacing opponent was giving off a strange ki signal. He wasn't really sure just _how_ strong it was, and the last giant monster he had gone up against without any knowledge of (a beast known as Hildegarn) had lead to him getting the living crap beaten out of him, and he, like his father, was always weary of repeating past mistakes…

-Ω-

"Pilot Ikari." sounded the Supreme Commander's cold and direct voice over the intercom within Unit-01's entry plug.

"Y-yes, sir?" Shinji stammered, slightly stung by the formal tone his own father used on him, and also by the fact he wouldn't even refer to him by his name.

"The enemy's location has been transmitted through to your targeting system. Your orders are to restrain and capture the target while inflicting as little damage as possible. The subject is a very important specimen and must be apprehended immediately." The estranged father informed as he focused on the gargantuan screen in the command centre. It currently displayed a zoomed out imaged of the hovering form of Trunks in the upper left, the remainder of the screen was dominated by the looming form of Evangelion Uni-01.

-Ω-

Goten at this point was running round frantically: finding stairways that led up in the general direction of Trunks; jumping up through the occasional ceiling; trying in any way to reach his friend in time to help him with whatever situation he had gotten himself in before it was too late (either to save him or just to have some fun, he wasn't particularly sure). The blonde-haired little tyke jumped up to the next level and dashed through some double-doors which led out into a massive open area, the roof higher up than he could see, a moving walkway as its floor.

He screeched to a halt halfway to the next set of doors.

He looked straight up, totally missing the black-suited forms pouring out both sets of doors either side of him…

-Ω-

"Umm… W-where is the enemy?" Shinji asked uncertainty, his mind confused by the lack of aforementioned giant monster.

"Your target's co-ordinates have been sent to you," Gendo spoke out simply, "proceed with the mission."

Shinji clicked a small switch on the left butterfly-control, causing the image to blink and zoom in on the coordinated area in his targeting computer. It zoomed in again, and again, and finally maximum magnification on the selected area before Shinji cocked his head, his brow creasing in confusion as his eyes focused on the only animated object on screen.

"Umm, I see some weird _kid_ floating in the air..." he said bewilderedly.

"Correct. That is your target." The commander confirmed, speaking as if this was a perfectly natural statement.

"_What?_" Shinji gaped, shocked. "B-but, it's just a kid," he objected. "I-It can't be an Angel, can it?" he stammered.

"It is the enemy," Gendo began coolly, not admitting he wasn't _actually _fighting an Angel, "Obey your orders."

"J-Just a child..." Shinji stammered out, looking into the half-scared green eyes of his 'enemy'.

"That is nothing but a cover. The target is _extremely_ dangerous. You have seen the damage it has done to headquarters," he offered, being unable to actually force him, and with Rei unable to pilot, he was forced to _reason._

"B-But father..." he stammered, glancing between the hovering form and the gaping hole in the Geo-front.

"You are aware," he began, forcing a grin from appearing on his face, "that he almost killed Captain Katsuragi in his last attack. I have no doubt that the enemy will reinitiate his attack unless stopped."

"_W_-_What_?"Shinji breathed, glancing at the image marked 'command feed' which his father had linked to the surveillance and was currently showing an image of the dishevelled and slightly singed Captain as she paced down a corridor. She really did appear quite worse for wear.

"As I said, Shinji," The commander began, deliberately using his son's first name, "your orders are not to try and harm the target, merely to restrain him," He paused before drilling one last nail in, "before he ends up actually _killing_ the Captain or… perhaps maybe even the First Child." It was lucky for Gendo that the aforementioned Captain was on her way to meet the good Dr Akagi on her way to the command centre, else the somewhat emotional officer could have made this situation even more difficult with some unsuspected outburst.

Shinji eyed the target on his monitor, contemplating how any 'normal' child could possibly be hovering in midair and also his outlandish hair and general appearance. His eyes flicked to the crater on geo-front floor, his father's words echoing through his head. He felt bad enough about the casualty rumours from the incident with the Third Angel without having his guardian and the solitary First Child's blood on his hands too.

_'Just to capture him, I won't hurt an innocent child…'_ he contemplated as his mind came to yet another unhappy decision to add to his repertoire of unhappy decisions (involving choosing to come to Tokyo-3, choosing to pilot EVA, _remaining_ to pilot EVA, and many other wonderful examples).

"Pilot…" The supreme commander spoke, prompting for some action from the hesitant Third Child.

"Right," Shinji spoke, his father's face suddenly showing a subtle grin, "EVA Unit-01 is proceeding to restrain and capture the target." Shinji announced, putting just a little extra emphasis on 'restrain' and 'capture'.

"Understood. Proceed, Third Child." Gendo finished, feeling that now would be the time to test the true abilities of EVA-01, and also to put an end to this unstable element in his scenario once and for all…

-Ω-

Goten was still staring straight upwards, silent as if contemplating something. His face suddenly spread into a beaming smile as he realised something: Trunks was almost _directly_ above him. Now Goten wasn't really sure _how_ many floors were between him and Trunks, but he didhave a lot of ready to use speed, was full on stamina, and more importantly... he had a _really_ hard head.

"Hands on your head!" Roared a black-clad Section Two agent as his and about thirty other semi-automatic weapons were trained on the small orange-clothed boy who, even though the man had shouted as loud as he could, was seemingly more interested and amused by whatever it was that was on the ceiling "I SAID HANDS ON YOURE DAMNED HEAD!" he shouted even louder at the golden-haired boy whilst cocking the side of his mp-5 rifle for emphasis.

"Huh?" Goten asked absently, his head turning downwards to the right, then left, regarding the atrocious number of Intelligence officers sent to apprehend the seven year-old boy.

"I _SAID-_"the agent began.

"But I _can't,_" Goten began, his voice reminiscent of an innocent whine, returning his stare to the roof, " I've gotta go see my friend. I don't have time to play with you just now," he said innocently before returning to his former skyward vigil.

The man's finger twitched and a bang echoed through the area.

The others, on reflex, all opened fire on the Saiyan.

It took Goten a moment to even realise he was being shot at as he glanced down and frowned curiously at the bullets that were bouncing clearly off his skin.

He scowled, "Stop stop putting holes in my clothes!" he swung his hands out in either direction, sending a wave of translucent energy at the officers. It struck them head on and sent them hurtling back against the doorways.

Goten crouched down and, without any further hesitation, propelled himself straight upwards...

-Ω-

Trunks mentally prepared himself for battle, trying to push out the feeling of fear instilled on him as the giant monstrous form heaved itself free from its moorings and began to slowly walk directly towards him, it's empty eyes locked on him, unwavering.

"I'm not afraid, I'm _not afrai-_" he paused in his little mantra as his eyes moved downwards towards the long cable attached the back of the giant form. He focused on the connections it was attached to and, from what he could see from his viewpoint, what this meant to the situation he was in.

"What," he asked out loud, "is that?" he continued, mumbling in thought, "Some kind of power cable or something?" he theorised (smart from his mother's side), "That would mean… It's not a monster… Some kind of robot?" he continued, speaking somewhat faster as the huge form closed on him, "It has a kind of ki… Some kind of bio-science thing then?" he continued, theorising as fast as he could, his mind flicking to information he had read on Dr Gero, Cell, and those guys who had tried to clone Brolly, "Yeah… That _must_ be it," He said, raising his index finger for emphasis, a small smile breaking out on his face "It's not a monster!" he spoke faster, and much louder, as Unit-01 came within only six times its arm's length "Some kinda fighting machine… _Yeah..._ that explains this base thing it's stored in! Hah hah!" he laughed triumphantly as it dawned on him "All for intimidation or something like that!" His contemplation finished on this as his fear melted away, his mother's genetic makeup having done its job, it was now time for his father's to take over...

His face switched into a sly, expectant grin, "If that's the case," he said as Unit-01 began to reach out for him carefully, and he slid into a fighting stance, "Let's just see what you can do!"

Just as the EVA's hand reached out to grasp him, Trunks' aura burst back into its full golden ferocity. He suddenly shot upwards further into the air, far out of the reach of the giant hand. He somersaulted over the Evangelion's head, leaving a long trail of golden flame behind, the substantially slower EVA's hand grasping at nothing but air as the now battle-happy son-of-a-prince finished his evasion.

On his last twirl he brought his fists over his head and, using the momentum of that last spin, brought them down to smash the off-guard gargantuan fighting machine in the back of the head. The sheer force of the blow sent the unit flying forwards about two hundred metres and landing sprawled out against the side of the NERV command building.

"Yaargh!" sounded the painful moan of the pilot as he clasped the back of his head at the point relating to where the fast moving Saiyan had bashed him one. "What the HELL was _that_?" Shinji exclaimed, shocked and stunned.

"_T__hat_," began Gendo Ikari once the rumbling of the EVA impacting the pyramid structure had subsided, "Was your helpless little child."

"W-What?" Shinji gasped. In his mind he _knew_ it could only have been the unknown target, but logically it made no sense how some pre-teen boy was proceeding to beat the living crap out of his EVA. And yet the throbbing headache he had coming on was testament to the fact that that was indeed what was happening. As his vision cleared, he tried to focus on the child, who appeared to be making strange, exaggerated movements.

Trunks was actually in the process of doing a little victory dance.

Aoba squinted, "What _is_ that?"

Fuyutski cocked an eyebrow, "That would be the Funky Chicken."

Trunks hovered in mid air, his aura still flowing (his little dance had helped him shrug off the pain in his hands from smacking the steel surface of the Eva's head). He then proceeded to burst into laughter, "Hoow yeah! He never even saw it _coming_!" he shouted triumphantly, jumping up and down in midair then giving a peace sign down to the fallen mecha.

_'He wasn't kidding, this kid's not normal!'_, Shinji contemplated, realising his slow and careful technique was a bad thing to start off with, also deciding that this mighty little firefly was going to take some serious persuasion to subdue.

Shaking off the pain, he willed his mecha up…

Trunks watched as the fallen machine began to push itself up from the side of the building and stood back up to its full height.

Trunks couldn't resist it…

Flying right up to the gargantuan mecha's face, he shouted as loud as he could. _Well..._ loud enough for the EVA to pick up and relay through the comm. system anyway.

"Hah! Back for more, eh?" he shouted "Gluten for punishment, is it, or are you just plain DUMB!" he burst into laughter again soon after. He moving in closer and knocked on the EVA's head like a tin kettle, making the obvious sign of listening before knocking again "Yup!" he nodded, knocking again "No brain in there!"

In the command centre, several jaws had dropped. Misato, who had just run in and was about to demand to know the pilot's status, had just caught the image of the little golden haired tyke starting to taunt the EVA. Gendo was allowing himself to spread his face into a deep scowl. The sub-commander was simply staring dumbfounded as the four foot little boy squared off and taunted the giant fighting machine. Dr Akagi had allowed herself to frown over the boy's actions. Ibuki simply sat frozen, watching the scene in disbelief. Aoba however, did barely manage to suppress the urge to giggle at the whole spectacle.

Shinji, however, was now torn between being jaw-droppingly stunned and outright _frustrated,_ as the boy who was now not only not taking him seriously, but also making him _literally _the biggest joke in and under Tokyo-3. He was about to move for a high speed lunge and grasp the boy but...

Trunks wanted just one last shot, and so he flew a bit closer in to the Eva's face, before turning about and patting himself on the backside, shouting "Come on big guy, Here's yer target!" he laughed, turning his head back around to the Eva to pull his eyelid down and stick his tongue out at the same time.

"_What!_" Shinji exclaimed. Now, he would admit that he was polite and didn't really stand up for himself much (well… At all) but human he was, and human limits he did have.

"You want a taunt?" He asked darkly, "Fine... I can play too." he said, and threw his trump card down onto the table…

Trunks barely even had time to turn back and face the EVA before suddenly he felt like he was hit in the face by a moving wall.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed as suddenly he felt himself being pushed further and further back away from the Eva unit. The force didn't stop until he found himself pushed back a good thirty metres.

"Well, that was... unexpected." he muttered, attempting to realise what had just happened.

-Ω-

"Evangelion Unit-01 has successfully deployed its A.T field." Lt. Hyuuga announced as a grid image of unit-01 appeared on the large screen, the lower display indicating the detection of a pattern orange AT Field.

"I just hope that it's enough..." Misato voiced as she stared at the image of the confused Saiyan who was scratching his head in mid-air, unable to approach EVA-01.

"Relax Captain. As long as Shinji has his A.T field spread, nothing can get to him." Ritsuko assured her, she herself not realising that the 'nothing' she was referring to were conventional weapons. Also, she probably should have been paying attention to the report coming in from Section 2 on the panel next to her, as things were about to take a drastic turn…

"What the heck is this?" Trunks voiced confused as he felt the exterior force of the Evangelion's A.T field push him back. He raised his hand gingerly and slapped it against the shimmering spot in the air. He hissed in shock as it was repelled, a ripple of orange light resonating at the spot he struck.

"Okay then. So you wanna play rough, huh?" Trunks growled as he charged himself up to attack again, his aura bursting ablaze as he shot himself straight at the monstrosity which attempted to swing its left arm up in defence, only for Trunks to effortlessly swerve round and lunge at the head once again.

A high pitched sound echoed over the geo-front from the phase variance of Unit-01's AT Field as the boy smacked unprepared into the large orange, octagonal barrier.

"Shit!" Trunks cursed, grasping his head in pain as he was spun backward off the field.

After composing himself in midair, pissed off severely now, he charged once more in rage before thinking it through.

"Right closer… Closer" began Shinji, preparing to capture the menace as soon as he had the chance.

Trunks lunged straight down lower at the EVA's torso, at much higher velocity, only to smash straight into the barrier again.

He gritted his teeth and forced forward, the field suddenly staring to fold inwards, like a finger applying too much pressure to a spider's web. Shinji took this opportunity while he had it.

Just as Trunks slowed down to attempt to force completely through the barrier, the Eva's gargantuan hands swung up and quickly and efficiently cupped themselves around the Super Saiyan. Shinji focused and reversed his A.T field down around his hands, creating a tight prison to hold the Saiyan temporarily.

"And… Got you!" Shinji said light with a gasp, realising there was now no way for the boy to escape on his own now.

"Good work, Shinji!" Came the voice of Dr Akagi over the intercom, "Now keep the target restrained, we'll soon have something ready to take over for you." (It should be mentioned that she didn't actually know _how_ long this would take, but she was hoping now for the best).

"Y-Yes, ma'am." Shinji panted. He was in pain; he couldn't deny that, and now also very tired from this little escapade, although he had managed to convince himself that what he had captured had to be _some _kind of menacing monster, though as he looked at the tiny form trapped in his giant hands, he still wasn't quite sure how long he could keep himself convinved.

"D-Damnit!" Trunks gasped. Somehow his body was now frozen in place, locked between the grasp of this robot freak, and he was now not only pained, but shamed also; to have failed so badly and be captured by a bunch of weaklings…

"Now, what is the status of the second intruder, doctor?" Gendo asked, silently glad things finally going his way somewhat.

She turned to look at a readout on Maya's screen and punched in a few commands, "Section 2 has him held down on one of the walkways, I'm just check-" She froze in mid sentence as she read the message that flared up on the screen indicating an urgent voice message waiting. She swiftly lifted the receiver and hit the play button and listened to the message.

The doctor's face paled as the obviously loud voice shouted urgently down the receiver, "Oh no…" the Doctor breathed in horror as she realised what very well may be about to happen.

"Sir…" The doctor began, the commander quickly turning his attention to her, "We…" she hesitated whilst thinking of how best to summarise the situation"…Have a problem" The others on the bridge probably would've requested clarification...had they the chance.

-Ω-

"Ka..."

Shinji frowned as the syllable barely echoed over his speaker. He looked about, wondering if he'd imagined it.

"...me..."

He glanced about and down at the boy who was still frozen.

"...ha..."

"What on earth..." he muttered as the voice continued.

"..me..."

He blinked as he spied the glowing tiny glowing form just outside of his peripheral vision, but it was far too late to do anything about it.

"HAA!" came the final syllable of a familiar attack, The EVA's head turned to the source, just in time to see a super-focused blue beam of energy streak through the air and smash into the unit's A.T field. The barrier folded inwards and was ripped apart as the energy wave punched it clean through, skewering the giant machine's right wrist. Blood spurted out, and in reflex, the EVA released the contents of its hand…

"GYAAAHHH!" came Shinji's scream of agony as he felt the feedback of something searing hot punch a hole through his right wrist. Not caring about the contents of his hand anymore, he recoiled in agony, as the EVA dropped to its knees…

"Sir, EVA Unit-01 has suffered severe damage to the wrist area and the captive has been lost!" Aoba shouted up, reading off his display.

"The pilot?" Misato asked immediately.

"No damage to the pilot but…by God, it's the second energy signal!" Hyuuga shouted out loud(as he does) "Its appeared on the geo-front and is quickly approaching the first!"

"Shinji, listen to me!" Dr Akai shouted, "You _have_ to get up! You must regain captivity of the target!" she commanded as she helplessly watched the image of a fazed Trunks pull himself together, the other half of the screen was filled with an image of the second target closing in on his partner…

-Ω-

Trunks opened his eyes, letting his vision focus to reveal the happy-faced form flying towards him.

"Goten-kun!" Trunks shouted, probably never so happy to see Goten in all his life.

"Trunks, are you okay, I had to hit that thing pretty hard to make it let you go." Goten asked, cocking his head down at the EVA and the gaping hole in its lower arm.

"Hah! You honestly thought the son of the Saiyan prince could be captured or hurt by some measly toy robot!" he boasted out loud, folding his arms.

"I guess so..." Goten contemplated, "So what do we do now? Shall we get out of here?" he offered to his social superior.

"No!" Trunks replied sharply, before continuing "We're gonna get ourselves some payback against these guys!" he shouted stabbing a finger at the EVA which was now beginning to stir.

"So what are we gonna do?" Goten asked curiously.

"We make a winning combination Goten my friend! I say we show 'em what REAL power is!" he half shouted, grinning slyly to his friend.

"Gotcha, Trunks!" Goten shouted back; eager for a bit of fun.

Grinning; both realigned their power levels to match each other, before floating down to the half-standing form of EVA-01;

"Hey there, big guy!" Trunks shouted to the EVA (and effectively everyone in the command centre) "You got lucky there, but now I think it's time for you to see just what we can really do!"

"Yeah, it's time for you to see the power of Gotenks!" Goten shouted happily, jumping up and down once.

"Goten, my friend…"Trunks said quietly, yet still audible on the comm. System "…Let's do it."

"FUSION TIME!" Goten shouted in as loud and triumphant a tone as possible.

-Ω-

"'Fusion?' 'The power of Gotenks?'" Misato spoke curiously, "What d'you think they meant by that?"

Dr Akagi passed a quick worried glance to the commander, who now bore a small snarl, as he had quite rightly guessed what the two targets were planning.

"Those energy spikes;" the doctor said suddenly to Misato and the others in the room, "remember how at one point there was one giant energy spike that split into two smaller ones?"

"Yeah…"Misato said ushering her to continue.

"Two smaller ones…" she said, her hand outstretching to indicate Goten and Trunks.

"You can't mean…" Misato gasped, her mind remembering the sheer size difference of the energy spikes compared to their combined form. The term greater than the sum of your parts just didn't cut it with that, "'..._fusion_'" she breathed.

Akagi nodded as she turned to speak, only to be cut off by Gendo Ikari.

"Shinji, you must stop the intruders _now_! You must _not _allow them to join forces!" Gendo shouted in an uncharacteristically loud, and yet most commanding voice.

Unfortunately, in this situation however, it was like that old saying about how saying something won't make it happen, and also that certain things are much easier said than done.

"Y-Yes, sir" he gasped as he tried to focus himself.

"You got any idea what this combined form will be like?" Misato asked Ritsuko curiously.

"I have no idea. These childlike forms could be some kind of cover in order to disguise their final appearance, like a chrysalis stage. We can't really be sure until it happens." The doctor explained.

-Ω-

Goten and Trunks charged the EVA head-on, in what appeared to be an attack, only to twist their bodies back at the last moment, extending their feet flat forwards as they impacted the AT field. It curved inwards slightly under the pressure and he boys released their ki and the barrier shot back, springboarding them backwards through the air in perfect synchronisation towards the large area of water around the base of the headquarters building. With a ripple of energy, they both suddenly stopped in midair, their feet about three inches above the water's surface, both of them facing forward, two metres apart with their fists at their sides. All was ready…

-Ω-

In the command centre tensions were starting to build. At least with Angels they had some idea what they were dealing with… okay maybe they _didn't_, but at least they had an idea of their enemy's objective and they knew what to do with them.

"Shinji, status?" Captain Katsuragi demanded hurriedly.

"I-I'm okay. I'm going after them." Shinji gasped, pulling the EVA up and turning it towards the updated target co-ordinates. He willed his mecha forwards towards the target location.

"Fuu…" Goten and Trunks began in synch, initiating their manoeuvre, their arms raising up over their heads as they shuffled three steps closer to each other in mid-air.

Shinji broke into a run as the surface of the water under the boys began to crackle with bolts of blue light. He lunged forward, his A.T field spreading, ready to yet again spring his containment.

"...sion…" The Saiyans continued; their bodies twisting round, ready to finish the form…

Shinji pushed his EVA further and dived forward, his unharmed arm preparing to snatch both children in one swing…

"...HAA!" Their bodies swung over towards each other, fingers extending…

Unit-01's arm descended down to grasp the two boys.

Fingers connected…

Too late…

The dim of twilight within the Geo-Front exploded into brilliant day as the fusion technique was initiated. A blinding sphere of golden light engulfed the two children, the water beneath exploding around it into a huge cyclone.

Unit-01, too far gone to stop its attack, swung at the ball of light. As it connected, a bolt of yellow lightning shot out and struck the EVA in the chest, sending it spinning back through the air and skidding through the earth half-way across the geo-front.

"Mnnn…" Shinji groaned, rubbing the back of his head again as he sat up along with the rest of his Unit.

The recoil from the energy hadn't been so bad, it was more like he'd just bounced his EVA off a giant upturned trampoline. His eyes focused in on the large ball of energy, the water was now spinning around it, creating an eerily beautiful giant orb of shimmering light, like seeing the sun from beneath the water.

Shinji was forced to look away as the orb of light pulsed and a blinding flash from the centre lit up the geo-front.

The light died down a second later, the water funnelling back down into the empty space below it. As the lake settled, Shinji pulled his EVA up to full height with great effort, and moved into a ready fighting pose; ready to face the new enemy…

-Ω-

Alarms blazed out around NERV's command centre, the MAGI announcing the emergence of the unknown energy spike that was detected during the battle with Sachiel, as the two spikes representing Goten and Trunks folded in on one another. The entire building trembled under the sheer pressure as the boys fused just a little bit too close to their current location.

"Report!" Commander Fuyutski shouted over the din as the rumbling died down.

"The previous energy spike has been detected! Shock absorbers are attempting to compensate for the excess force!" Ibuki shouted, trying to make herself heard over the alarms.

"Well, Captain," The doctor began, pulling herself up and straightening her clothes, "it looks like your question is about to be answered."

"Shinji," She whispered, "be careful...please."

All eyes stared worriedly at the ball of energy as it flashed outwards and then disappeared.

Gendo said nothing, nor did anything, he had to accept the current situation as it was and could only deal with it once he knew exactly _what_ it was he was up against.

"By god," spoke Hyuuga quietly, "just what kind of creature could give off this kind of power?" he asked as the energy readings given by the MAGI were displaying as bordering on the incalculable, even for them.

Shinji's breathing was slow and quiet as he tried to remain calm. He was, to be honest, now scared witless as to what he was now dealing with. Only someone who had actually felt the power of that energy shunt through them and hurl them away that far could have any idea as to the scope of what they were dealing with. It was as if some great force had reached out and simply batted his EVA to the side as if it were some kind of bug.

The light in the geo-front settled down back to normal, with the exception of a small glow hovering just above the surface of the water.

The fusion was complete.

Shinji's eyes moved towards their great new enemy.

Down…

Down a bit further…

Right down back to the surface of the water…

Shinji actually had to lean his EVA's head in closer to get a proper look and even then was forced to zoom in to maximum to see his terrifying new adversary.

-Ω-

Gotenks stood triumphant, arms proudly on his waist and standing tall (_well_... as tall as he could for someone of his height) in his Super Saiyan 3 form.

As far as he was concerned he now had exactly what he needed in order to teach his opponent a lesson. That's right; he was bad, strong and ready to instil some fear with his mighty and daunting presence.

The gargantuan form of the EVA towered over him and Gotenks could've sworn it seemed to cock its head in confusion.

-Ω-

"_Well,_" Misato said, breaking the silence on the bridge, none really sure how to react to the very smug-looking little newcomer, "I…ahh...guess this is it?" she said, a single eyebrow raised in question.

Aoba inclined his head, "Well, at least it's not much worse than before, except for the fact that he's _seriously_ overdue for a haircut," he commented as he looked at the floating form on the screen who was now doing light stretching exercises afloat in the air.

"Energy readings, lieutenant?" Gendo demanded.

"It's…still as large as before? All that energy is coming from _him_!" Hyuuga gaped.

"Then we're still in a lot of trouble," Dr Akagi said levelly, "I suggest you remember what happened the last time we underestimated based on their appearance." She suddenly turned to the screen. "Shinji," she shouted, bringing the Third's attention quickly to her, "Shinji?" the Doctor repeated.

"Shinji, are you okay?" Misato enquired.

No response.

-Ω-

_Meanwhile, in the cockpit of Unit-01_

'_I don't think I can take this anymore._' Shinji commented mentally, totally ignoring the voices of his superiors. The anti-climax was just too much for him to take. He raised his hand and as he hit the exterior loudspeaker control. He may have been an introvert, meek and very bad at expressing his feelings, but even he had a limit, and that limit had come and gone. And now it was time to let it out...

"WAIT!" The pilot shouted exasperatedly down at the smug looking warrior who, somewhat startled, looked up at the EVA to give it his attention.

"huh?" Gotenks frowned, folding his arms and looking straight up, not breaking his proud and smug posture.

"Are you trying to tell me," Shinji began, "that after all that;" he paused again "… all the effort trying to stop you…" He halted once more, the Saiyan waiting "…and _that_ was _**IT**_?" He snapped, his boldness shocking everyone in the command centre in that he had pretty much managed to say what they were all thinking.

"_WHAT_?" Gotenks gaped, his bubble burst (even his aura popped like one). He floated up to speak face to face with his opponent "What are you _talking about_?" he demanded, his pride insulted.

"Oh, _come on!_" Shinji shouted. He had been through so much weird crap lately, but this was just that little bit too much, "I get all worked up! All that effort! Fighting you, and getting a gaping hole in my arm and a splitting headache to boot!" Shinji ranted at the stunned boy

"B-But..." The mighty Super Saiyan 3 stammered as the not-so-mighty 14 year old gave him a piece of his mind, the fused warrior's mouth opening and closing in a very good imitation of a goldfish.

"For _what_?" He demanded sardonically, his EVA's arms inadvertently rising up in question "Your 'mighty transformation'!" he spat.

Gotenks' jaw dropped and fists became tightly clenched at his sides as the unstable 14 year-old vented his emotions.

"Two little kids turn into one little kid!" He continued, still shouting.

Gotenks began to shake with rage.

"Get's himself a sucky outfit!" he hit again.

Gotenks flinched for a second in shock, almost hurt at the comment about his fashion, before his anger returned with a vengeance.

"Grew his hair, and _lost his eyebrows!_" Shinji finished even louder, expelling all of his pent up anger at his current situation and aiming it all at the little warrior.

Gotenks' aura exploded back into view as he bellowed back "Look here you! Don't you know how powerful I am?" He demanded, "If you thought we were a challenge before then you ain't seen nothin' yet! " he roared, and suddenly, a dark smirk spread across his features, "You don't stand a chance against me..."and without another word he shot at the EVA, his aura trailing behind him like a comet.

"Maybe so" Shinji said in a quiet tone as he resigned himself to his probably impossible task. He swung for the Saiyan, who shimmered and disappeared from view, "but I WONT let you kill them!" he shouted as he swung up and caught the Saiyan out the corner of his eye. He tore free his progressive knife and slashed at the air, again missing by a mile. The EVA, which wasn't even near fast enough to keep up with Trunks, was simply no match for Gotenks' agility and speed.

Shinji glanced up as the glowing child appeared in the air above him, arms raised above his head. A pulse of gold light began to gather about his hands.

The Saiyan smirked, "Like I said: _No chance_... Rapid Fir-" He froze mid word as his brain finally caught up with him and processed the words the pilot had said, "-hang on a second..." his aura again burst away and he suddenly descended into view in front of Unit-01's eyes.

"Kill _who_?" Gotenks demanded, suddenly folding his arms and cocking his head. A questioning frown on his face.

Shinji gripped the EVA's controls tightly as he glared at the boy, "I heard you attacked and try to kill someone close to me, and I know if I don't stop you you'll try to kill them again!" Shinji shouted, swinging the progressive knife around at the boy.

Gotenks' hand absently shot up and grasped the blade of the vibrating blade between his thumb and forefinger. Still frowning at the EVA, he pulled it free of its grasp and tossed it down onto the ground between them."I didn't try to kill anybody!" Gotenks insisted, scowling.

Shinji glanced at the blade and back at the boy, his giant fist clenching in anger, "Just look at what you've done to this place alone!" He snapped, swinging his hand in the direction of the blast hole extending out from NERV Central, "And you try to say that you don't want to hurt anyone!" Shinji threw back. Everyone in the command centre was choosing to stay out of this argument. Commander Ikari, however, was gaining a sinking suspicion as to where this conversation was going.

"I was trying to get free! I can sense the energy from living things. If there were someone in the direction I attacked then I would've sensed a living being there and not done it!" Gotenks retorted, there were many things he had been called in his life, but a murderer was not one of them, and the accusation hurt him deeply.

"W-Well, then why did you attack us in the first place?" Shinji asked, shaking his head.

"Why did _I_ attack _you_?" Gotenks echoed as if it was a stupid question, "Look here, you big purple weirdo! Ever since I got here you're people have, for NO reason: hit me; kidnapped me; locked me up in a cell; shot at me; attacked me with giant robots and tried to trap me in weird barriers! So don't go asking why _I_ attacked _you_! How would you like it if you got lost in some strange place and then the people there went and _kidnapped you_?" Gotenks ranted as he shook his arms up and down.

"W-We did _what_?" Shinji breathed.

-Ω-

"Cut off Unit-01's exterior communications." Commander Ikari suddenly demanded.

"S-sir?" Maya asked with a note of bewilderment.

"DO IT!" Gendo barked, desperate to minimise the damage to his control over this situation.

"Understood," Maya said, hiding her reluctance, as she entered the command.

Shinji was about to continue as the message indicating loss of two way communications came up on his display, the golden-haired boy's strange double-voice being cut off.

"_What?_" He frowned, attempting to reopen the audio link, to no avail.

"Shinji," came his father's voice over the intercom.

Shinji blinked, "F-Father?"

"This is your opportunity to apprehend the target-" Gendo began.

"-B-but father..." Shinji cut in with a stammer.

"Do not question my orders Third Child," Gendo spoke suddenly, interrupting any further questions, "Do as you are told."

Shinji froze, eyes wide at the audio link-box to headquarters. He felt his grip tightening painfully on the controls. Once again, he knew that his father was attempting to use his hands to perform his dirty work, but he knew he didn't have the strength to openly defy him, not with his current information on the situation. No, he needed to know, and he knew there was only one way to prove who was in the wrong here. Being forced to pilot EVA was bad enough, but being forced to do it without a good reason was near intolerable, and so he decided to finish the conversation direct.

_'Damn the risks!_' Shinji mentally hissed to himself as his hand clicked the desired control...

-Ω_-_

"Unit-01's entry plug is ejecting!" Aoba shouted.

Gendo remained silent, but his teeth could be seen to grit together behind his steepled hands.

"Shinji what in the hell do you think you're doing?" Misato shouted, suddenly extremely worried for her charge's safety.

"Looks like he's intent on continuing his conversation Ikari," Fuyutski said quietly to his long-time friend.

-Ω-

Gotenks instinctively swung into a fighting stance at the sudden pressure release on the neck of Unit-01.

"Huh?" he gasped curiously, his brows kitted together, as the head and neck of the EVA slid forward and the long white shape of the entry plug slid out, the main hatch on the side sliding upwards upwards.

Shinji coughed out the excess LCL as he pulled himself up and slid out of the entry plug, down onto the neck of the EVA. Stretching his aching muscles, he walked up onto the head of EVA Unit-01, his determined face showing as he came face to face with his 'enemy'.

'_So, it has a pilot…looks really young for something like this', _Gotenks contemplated as he slowly hovered forward, touched down on the head of the Eva directly in front of the newcomer, and looked up at him.

"Umm… _Hi_?" Gotenks offered, scratching his head slightly.

"H-Hi," Shinji said uneasily, suddenly quite unsure if he had effectively committed suicide.

"We were just talking, right?" Gotenks asked, rubbing the back of his head curiously.

"Y-yeah, that was me." Shinji confirmed.

"Oh, Then my name's Gotenks!" he said, suddenly smiling widely.

"Shinji," He returned, his head inclining somewhat.

"_Okay_..." Gotenks said, nodding as introductions were complete.

"_Why_ are you here then?" Shinji asked, reinitiating their previous conversation.

"I didn't wanna be here!" Gotenks exclaimed, "Half of me woke up here in a prison cell! The other half woke up on the other side of town in some girl's apartment!"

"How did you get here?" Shinji asked, his curiosity taking over.

"I... shouldn't be here." Gotenks spoke, his voice suddenly taking on a sullen tone, his eyes going quite distant.

"What?" Shinji asked, suddenly even more confused _'Of course he shouldn't'_ he though obviously, _'this place is hardly a public mall...'_

"I was pulled into this freaky universe accidentally!" Gotenks suddenly burst out as the situation he was in finally began to dawn on him.

"W-What?" Shinji asked, utterly bewildered, "What, you're saying you're from another _universe_?" Shinji asked disbelievingly of the long haired boy.

"Yes!" Gotenks barked, "That's exactly what I'm saying!" He paused before continuing in a quiet tone, "I'm trapped here…" he said, now staring forward as he realised the full truth of his situation "...and I can't get home!" the small warrior shouted, flinging his arms back as he attempted to push back what could be some tears forming in his eyes.

"And NERV locked one of you up?" Shinji confirmed, somehow finding himself feeling sorry for the lost child.

"That's about the size of it." Gotenks answered, pulling himself together.

"Sorry." Shinji said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I guess we might have brought this one on ourselves." he said, allowing himself a small smile.

"Maybe…but I guess I _did_ kinda overreact when I woke up… 'suppose I got a bit cranky, " Gotenks said, giving his own small laugh as he passed a glance to the hole he had made in the geo-front.

-Ω-

"That's not possible…" Dr Akagi breathed whilst listening in on the conversation between the pilot and Saiyan.

"Would explain a hell of a lot though," replied Misato, "After all it _would _take something totally otherworldly to possess this kind of power."

"So that's it..." Fuyutski commented at a level audible only to Gendo.

"This changes things…" The commander replied. The old science teacher merely nodding once in response.

-Ω-

"What are you going to do?" enquired Shinji.

Gotenks shrugged, "Dunno. I gotta go look for something first before I make any plans," Gotenks paused for a moment as if just contemplating something, "Who's listening just now?"

Shinji glanced at the open entry plug just behind him and back, "Well, at the volume we've been talking at, I'd say the comm. system's probably picked up and relayed everything we've said." Shinji informed, his knowledge of EVA technology was limited but he did have a grasp of the basics.

"Well in that case," Gotenks said, before lowering his voice substantially, "I'll probably go see if I can go find my things first and then I'll probably set up camp outside of town. I guess we'll start to try to get home again after that." Gotenks looked up towards the glistening buildings above them in deep thought, realising that, despite this not being the time chamber, he could at least use this as an opportunity to get in some training after all.

He could worry later…

"I guess I'll see you later then?" Shinji asked and implied, finishing their conversation.

"I think we will. You're not easy to miss!" Gotenks shouted happily as he floated up in midair, turning about as he prepared to fly off towards the only visible exit to the geo-front on the near opposite side, which was in fact the subway system that lead into the underground complex.

"That's true, I guess." Shinji added, allowing himself a smile as the floating form gave him a wave.

"Oh, and tell Rei I said hi!" Gotenks added to Shinji's surprise.

"You know Ayanami?" He asked disbelievingly, not quite sure how to take this.

"Uh huh, and tell her I promise to make up for all the food I ate, and thank her for her patience with me too! Oh, and you'd best tell her it's from Goten though!" He said, contemplating the sentence as he said it.

Shinji dwelled on it for a second before smiling slightly "Will do!" he called upwards.

He turned his back on the mysterious warrior and headed carefully back towards the entry plug, only to be stopped by the sound of a distancing voice.

"And one more thing!" Gotenks called, Shinji's head quirking round "My outfit does NOT suck!" the voice shouted back, before exploding into a blaze of gold and flying off at blinding speed towards geo-front's exit.

Shinji waited for a second for the warrior to move further away "Oh yes it does," He couldn't help but add quietly to himself with a grin, as he watched the blazing form until it disappeared, before hopping back into the entry plug as it slid back into place and his damaged EVA began to start up.

He sat in the control seat as that peculiar warmth he felt when he synchronised enveloped him, thinking...

His smile had melted off his face and his brow clenched into a frown as it all dawned on him. The circumstances he had been led to believe when they sent him out here, everything they made him think about the enemy...

'_Lies, it was all lies...Why?'_ He asked himself

"Shinji," The child heard his father's voice come over the intercom and his frown deepened into a scowl, "What is the status of the enemy?" The commander enquired.

Shinji's thought process restarted _'enemy... That's what he called them before, but just whose enemy is it? Ours...or just yours, father?'_ he contemplated with a frown. He had agreed to pilot the EVA in an attempt to help others; but he had never agreed to go through all this agony as a personal lackey to his father. He needed to think, and so, ignoring his father, he spoke over the intercom.

"Misato," Shinji began, breaking the silence. Gendo's eyebrow twitched as he realised that he had been completely ignored, "I'm going home now, I'll see you later." He said, and then terminated communications completely with NERV.

He turned and headed for the platform lift and returned to the cage.

He left the entry plug soon after, the forms of Dr Akagi and Lieutenant Ibuki waiting to debrief him. He met neither of their stares and bumped unceremoniously clean between the two, stopping only to pass a stern glare back at them.

'_Lies,'_ his mind hissed at him again. Both women said nothing, Doctor Akagi immediately registering what the Third Child was implying, her eyes dropping to the floor as the pilot walked silently off to the changing rooms to gain a quick shower and slip back into his normal outfit.

He left headquarters without saying another word to anyone, keeping himself deep in thought. He stopped only once on a walkway as he passed the First Child, not actually looking at her, just passing on the message Gotenks had given him, before walking onwards, ignoring any reply the First Child can or may have made…

_'She says it's a very noble thing that I do. She says I do well, that I fight for a purpose. Now I begin wonder… What purpose, or maybe _whose_ purpose, am I really fighting for?'_ These were Shinji's last thoughts as he slipped the earplugs of his SDAT into place and hitting the play button; drowning his thoughts and the world around him out temporarily.

Seeds of doubt about NERV and his father's motives had been planted in the back of his mind on this day, but little did the Third Child know just how much those seeds would begin to germinate in the coming weeks and months...

-Ω-

Gotenks floated above Tokyo-3 in his powered down state, his ki suppressed as he figured that they might have some way of detecting him. His eyes traced the city below him and suddenly…

The boy was engulfed in a flash of blue light before splitting back into two forms hovering about a metre apart from each other.

"Thirty minutes?" Goten commented.

"Must be," Trunks replied before returning to stare down at the city. Then quickly, seeing his destination, pointed downwards, "Come on Goten, I think that's it!" he said, indicating one of the NERV armament buildings that had a barely visible gap in the roof, the same gap he guessed was made when he first crashed down into it upon arrival.

"I'm right behind you!" Goten shouted as he flew after him in the darkness of Tokyo-3's night.

Seconds later Goten was looking down into the hole of the building where which Trunks had just disappeared into. He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to see down into the darkness, "Just what are we looking for Trunks?" Goten enquired, and was answered by a familiar arm reaching up out of the darkness clenching a sealed white case bearing the Capsule Corp. logo on it.

"_This_!" Trunks said "Now, let's go set us up a campsite." Goten smiled at this, "I don't know about you Goten… But I'm really getting hungry." Goten's smile widened as he and Trunks took off into the night sky across Tokyo-3, heading towards the countryside on its borders…

-Ω-

At this point, several miles away, in that same pitch darkness of night.

In the air above the grounds of Tokyo-3's junior high, blue bolts of energy began to crackle in mid-air. Swirls of wind built up as the bolts of blue light turned into a miniature storm of blue energy. It intensified as the light gathered down on one point and a great blue burst of light illuminated the area for a second before the calm of night returned once more and everything was as it was.

With one small exception:

On the roof of the school, against the cool moonlight in the surprisingly starry sky; two feet touched down.

A Blue and orange waistcoat fluttered in the night breeze.

He brushed down his pair of loose-fitting white trousers;

He also wore a blue tied belt.

And he had spiked up hair, spiked up _golden_ hair.

A pair of focused emerald green eyes swept the area.

And then there was a smirk…

The form's golden hair faded to black as the gold slipped out of it and his green eyes changed to their normal colour that was as dark as the night.

He gave the area one last glance around before raising two fingers to his forehead and disappearing even quicker than he came…

-Ω-

_To be continued..._

-XA-

[an] Okay another chapter, another set of sore fingertips… Anyhow, sorry if anyone seemed OOC, as always, I tried to keep them within boundaries, it was difficult considering the situations. I was watching the scene between Shinji and Gendo in NGE episode 1 and came up with the idea of giving Shinji another little outburst, only this one tried to give it a bit of a more humorous touch. Again sorry if this little update took too long, but things happen as they do. I'll try and get the next remastered bit of this tale out soon.

Coming up… Gendo's Saiyan troubles are doubled and the seemingly perfect plan to return the boys home is hindered by the Angels. With Gendo's Saiyan troubles doubled and the perfect plan to return the two boys home interfered with by the presence of the Angels. And as they next angel makes his presence known, the last prince of the Saiyan race enters the battlefield. All in the next chapter…

Chapter 5: Prince of Angels.


	5. Chapter 5: Prince of Angels

[A/N] Welcome back, mein comerades. You may be wondering just why there was such a big gap this time? Well as it turns out this little project is turning into less of a revising and more a full on re-write, especially these early chapters, but I'm thinking it'll get easier as it progresses.. Veterans of this fic may recall this chapter used to be split into two parts, but considering the length of later chapters I've decided this is a bit pointless. And yes, this fic is back in the Evangelion section like it used to be. So for the three of you who actually read this bit, I'll bore you no more. Game on...

**Eva Possibilities and Fusion Pandemonium**

**Chapter 5: Prince of Angels**

On top of an average-looking apartment building in the heart of Tokyo-3, two figures stood in silence. Well, to be precise, one was actually standing on a traffic light just _off _the roof with a look of serious concentration on his face. The other bore a slight look of disgust which he quickly shook off and began focusing also.

The figure on the over-street traffic light who, unlike his partner, was unfazed by the incident that had just previously occurred, was the first to speak.

"They must be suppressing their ki; I can't sense them at all." The orange and blue clad form of Goku said, his mental trace of the area turning up a total blank.

"Hmph, must be. Somehow I _doubt _they've been destroyed." said Vegeta, who was still feeling nauseous over the recent fusion he had been forced into. He was currently standing on the roof ledge, clad in his usual blue suit with full Saiyan armour vest, gloves and boots. He stood with his arms folded, overlooking the cityscape of Tokyo-3.

"Me neither. I mean, I don't really sense anything that Gotenks couldn't handle without much effort." Goku said, his arms at his side in a far more relaxed pose than his royal counterpart.

"Insects may not be deadly Kakarott, but can still be annoying."

The two Saiyans exchanged no further words for a minute. Each had also kept their ki expertly suppressed ever since they had arrived in this universe still fused together.

"Insects... You're talking about those two ki signals in the distance, aren't you?" Goku enquired, still in a serious mood.

"Hmm..." was all the Saiyan prince offered in confirmation. He was currently busy focusing on something else. It was true, there were two noticeable ki signals below the earth in the distance, but there was another, just on the very edge of his perception, far deeper into the earth, that had attracted his attention. It seemed dormant, but still felt overly powerful.

There was also residual ki in the atmosphere that he could easily identify as his own son's. His thought processes were interrupted as Goku spoke again.

"So why do you think we haven't sensed any kind of activity from the boys since we've been here? I mean, what could have happened that's forcing them to keep their ki so low?"

"Hmmm… Let me _think,_" Vegeta began, somewhat sarcastically "It's quiet, it's the dead of night," Vegeta paused, hoping (in vain) for his companion to catch on. He continued "Did it not occur to you… That they could be _asleep?_"

"So, what are we doing just standing about here?"

"…" Vegeta made no reply; caught somewhat off guard by the 3rd class Saiyan's observation.

"Do you Wanna set up camp for the night and restart the search in the morning?" He asked, "I dunno about you Vegeta, but I'm pretty tired."

He reached into the pouch attached to his belt and retrieved a small capsule.

Vegeta gritted his teeth," Why not..." He muttered reluctantly, realising that anything further they could do tonight would be a complete waste of time.

Goku bounced up off the traffic light he was standing on, coming to a halt in the air above the roof.

He clicked the button on the capsule's top and tossed it down.

There was a sudden POW! and a burst of smoke. And there, In the middle of the once empty roof, now stood a miniature domed house. It was placed far enough from the sides to prevent it being seen from anyone passing below, and also from any of the neighbouring buildings.

Goku dropped down in front of the door and turned to his rival and friend, "Ready to turn in for the night?" He asked in his usual carefree method, this being returned by Vegeta's usual grunt and unbreakable scowl.

Several minutes later. The two ultra-powerful warriors had flopped down in the twin bedrooms of the capsule house and drifted off for the night. One snoring loudly, the other sleeping in such a deathly silence, you'd think he was as much on guard asleep as he was awake.

Thusly their first night in Tokyo-3 ended as they settled down in their small house. Which just so happened to be set on the roof directly above the apartment of a certain pig-tailed class representative.

-Ω-

The sun began to rise over the mountains around Tokyo-3, as another wonderful day filled with happiness, love and peace, began.

No, not really.

The sun began to rise over the mountains around Tokyo-3, as another standard day filled with depression, deceit, sadness, violence and the occasional good feeling, began.

Two locations held particular interest at this time: two identical domed buildings, each separated by several miles of metropolis.

In the building sited on a grassy plane overlooking the city, two small figures began to stir as they awoke from their peaceful slumber.

The other, which was placed on top of another building, currently held two other familiar figures who were already awake.

Well, this isn't exactly true. _One_ was awake, the same one who was currently attempting to rouse the other occupant of the house, who still appeared very much dead to the world.

On a related note far, far away (_well..._ just under their feet), the familiar form of Hikari Horaki was attempting (for the fifth time that morning, (to her rising frustration) to prepare the breakfast for herself and her family.

Now normally this task would be quick work for the efficient teenager, and she would normally by now be in the process of speedily preparing their lunches. However, this was turning out to be far from a normal morning, as it was difficult to make breakfast when something kept knocking all the food on off the counters and onto the kitchen floor, hence turning this into both a cooking and cleaning exercise.

She was good, but not that good.

"Hah... _Okay_, that about does it!" she sighed happily, mopping a bead of sweat from her brow as she arranged the plates on the edge of the table.

Happy and proud of her endeavours, she turned round to call on Nozomi, Kodama and her parents.

But nae, for on this day, breakfast just was not to be...

_...rumble..._

There came yet another mysterious tremor. Hikari froze on the spot, her fists clenched at her sides and trembling in rage as the inevitable happened.

An echoing crash of exploding plates and clattering cutlery echoed throughout the kitchen.

The teen turned rigidly around on the spot. Her teeth began to grit in her mouth as her eyes settled on the mess created by her fifth attempt at preparing the morning's food, which now lay sprawled out quite disasterously over the kitchen floor.

A vein in her forehead pulsed and an almost guttural growl could be heard emanating from the depths of her oesophagus.

The last thread of her temper snapped when another mysterious shudder went through the building.

She flung her arms out to the side as she roared out a clear and succinct "GOD DAMN IT!" at the top of her lungs. Much to the surprise of every other member of the household (and pretty much everyone else in the building)

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS CAUSING THAT?" She demanded, glaring at the walls as if they were responsible.

The walls pleaded the fifth.

-Ω-

_Meanwhile_…Just above her head.

Vegeta inhaled another deep breath, "For the last time, Kakarott, WAKE UP YOU LOW CLASS WEAKLING!" he bellowed, roaring directly into the ear of the sleeping Goku. It was his sixth such outburst since his initial attempt to wake the sleeping Saiyan, each one sending a minute pulse of his ki trembling through the ground he stood on.

The Saiyan prince would've continued his rant until Goku had awoken, but the strange voice screeching and cursing, seemingly from beneath the floor, kept giving him pause.

He shook his head and resumed his task. He sure as hell wasn't about to go searching the whole planet for 'those brats', as he called them, by himself.

Vegeta grumbled as he turned about and headed out of the capsule house and out onto the apartment block roof. He walked over and stepped up onto the ledge, his eyes tracing Tokyo-3 in the morning light.

_'Not very impressive'_ he contemplated, _'I doubt the boys would have been harmed by primitives with __this__ level of technology.'_ he continued, glancing at the passing cars and eyeing the up the buildings now that he could get a good look at them.

His ever-present frown deepened slightly _'but what are those three strange power levels I've been sensing, are they there or are they not? It's as if they're… dead.' _He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, _'it makes no difference.' _he concluded, '_If they're a threat; I'll just destroy them'._ A small smirk played across his features at the thought. After all, nothing relieved his stress more than beating something up.

His grin fell back into a frown as he turned his head toward the house, "And Kakarott…who would've thought that bottomless pit would stay in bed at breakfast time?" he said, his voice little more than a quiet mumble.

"MnnBreakfast time?" sounded a slurred voice from within the house as Goku awakened instantaneously.

"Don't tell me…" Vegeta grumbled in a slightly defeated tone.

Seconds later, the stretching form of Goku emerged from the door, yawning loudly. He turned his head to Vegeta, "Did I hear you say something about breakfast time?" He asked expectantly.

"I hate you." Vegeta said simply, walking straight past his witless companion and back into the house.

"What'd I do?" He asked bewilderedly, and followed his companion back into their temporary dwelling in order to prepare himself breakfast.

_Fifteen minutes later…_

"We're out of food." Vegeta said calmly, glancing into the now bare cupboards in reply to Goku's request for seconds (although it was all ready-made, Goku had a very simple philosophy when it comes to dinner: food is food).

"_What?_" Goku exclaimed, slamming his fist a little too hard into the table, cracking it straight in half down the middle, also leaving a small dent in the floor beneath.

"SON OF A-!" came a muffled shout from somewhere below them.

Goku glanced about" "What... was that?"

"How the hell should I know?" Vegeta snapped, slamming the cupboards closed.

"But what about the emergency, Vegeta?" Goku asked.

"_What _emergency?" The Saiyan prince asked, exasperated.

"THE FOOD EMERGENCY!" Goku shouted, still barely even close to being half-full.

"We've got enough food for several more days in the capsules. You'd eat it all before lunch if I gave it to you!" said Vegeta in a scolding tone.

"But Vegeta…" whined Goku, slumping back down into his chair. Vegeta may have had a Saiyan appetite, but knew how to control his hunger significantly better than his companion.

Goku didn't notice as Vegeta approached the pouch lying on the bench near him. The prince rummaged in it and retrieved a small green bean from within.

"HERE! You moaning baby!" He cursed, flicking the Senzu Bean onto his finger and pinging it right down Goku's throat from across the room, half-choking the Saiyan in the process.

"Vegeta, those are for emergencies!" Goku scolded, coughing and wiping a tear from his eye, though he _was_ secretly glad to be back at maximum again.

"Ohh, but I thought it _was_ an emergency." Vegeta retorted, walking off and out onto the roof once more.

-Ω-

_Several miles away…_

"We're out of food." Trunks said calmly, hovering in midair as he glanced round the cupboards.

"_What?_" Goten exclaimed. Luckily for Goten though, he was full on the contents of their capsule house, his stomach being significantly smaller than his father's.

"Chill, Goten. I brought loads." Trunks said as he landed back on the ground and contined, "but we gotta ration our food if its gonna last. I brought enough for two months, but I doubt it'll last that long with our appetites. Even then... we don't know just how long we're gonna be stck here for..."

"Y-you really think we're gonna be here _that_ long?" asked Goten in a worried tone.

"Who knows?" Trunks replied quietly, staring out of the window over the landscape of Tokyo-3.

-Ω-

"So how's Shinji been holding up since the incident yesterday?" Dr Ritsuko Akagi asked from behind her terminal as Misato lounged on the edge of her desk whilst sucking down a mug of coffee.

"He's fine, I guess, all things considered. Except now he just seems more... Oh, I don't know how to put it…"

"Withdrawn?" Dr Akagi offered, twiddling with her pen idly as she perused the constant readouts on the EVA repair status.

"_No_…" responded Misato, trailing off again "That's the weird thing. If anything he seems a bit _less_ withdrawn, kind of a bit more dedicated, and outgoing." She continued, her voice thoughtful.

"Well I suppose that can only be a good thing, from our point of view at least." commented the Doctor.

Misato shook her head slowly, "I'm not so sure. Its just, when I tried to talk to him about the incident... I mean it _sounded_ as if he were just talking as normal, but there was this strabge _undertone _he was using. He sounded a bit, I don't know…"

"What?" Doctor Akagi asked, glancing up from her monitor, he curiosity perked somewhat.

"…_cold_" She answered distantly, "Don't misunderstand; he seemed to be acting as he usually did, but when he was referring to his duties as a pilot he sounded… I don't know..._angry_... almost repulsed." she finished, her eyes narrowed in thought.

Ritsuko sighed, "Well according to his profile Shinji never really was that genuinely dedicated to begin with, but he always got done whatever was asked of him."

Misato shook her head slightly, "No, this was different. It was as if he were using the attitude we've been _encouraging_ him to use when piloting, but in the wrong direction." She paused for a second before elaborating "The way he sounded; it was as if he were openly spitting on his position, yet performing it anyway." She considered her words again for a moment, before adding "It's as if he were torn. Not between piloting or not piloting, but just who he considered were his enemy, and who were in his best interests."

"_So_… You believe the Third child may become a liability?" Dr Akagi asked, regarding the Captain curiously.

She shook her head dismissively, "No, it's nothing like that. It seems that all he wants to do is the right thing, and after that little stunt the commander pulled, it seems he feels the need to re-evaluate just what he's fighting for."

"Well isn't it your job to persuade him?" asked the doctor with a raised eyebrow.

Misato scoffed, "_What,_ to do the right thing? Or to do as he's told?" She offered, not realising she was using the same subtly-defiant tone that Shinji had used on her as he laid on his back in his room the previous night when she had tried to talk to him about the day's events.

"Well that's all in your judgment, Captain. After all, he's your charge."

"My judgement, my view..." She echoed quietly. Her eyes went distant, _'do I have that right?'_

Ritusko set her pen down and turned to the Captain, "Misato, the bottom line is we need the Third Child to battle the angels, remember that."

"And lost little children too?" She enquired as if it was the bottom line of the argument, "Commander Ikari should _never _have used Unit-01 like that and you know it."

"…" Ritsuko's eyes fell, but she said nothing.

"We brought that one on ourselves and you know that too." Misato added, unable to keep a note of venom from her voice, "It was foolhardiness like that that caused Second Impact in the first place. It's what we get for not respecting the unknown."

Nothing further was said between the old friends for almost half an hour, before being interrupted by the familiar form of Maya Ibuki.

"Sempai, you wanted a report on all anomalous energy readings since the _battle_ with Unit-01?" She offered, trying to hide her contempt over the issue of the previous evening's incident, a contempt shared by the Captain.

"And?" Ritsuko prompted.

"_Well,_" She walked up to a nearby terminal and inserted a disk. The familiar 3d-model representing energy emissions over Tokyo-3 came up on screen. She went on, "as you can see, the energy spike, or _Gotenks_, was detected moving out the Geofront through the main transit line to the surface at extreme speed. He was detected above the city for approximately fifteen minutes before splitting back into his component parts; Goten and Trunks." she paused as the two spikes on the model suddenly flattened down, "After that, the two boy's energy signals seemed to totally disappear off our sensors.".

"Disappeared?" Misato echoed "Disappeared _where_?"

"We're not exactly sure, but here's the interesting thing: Shortly after midnight, the Magi detected a split-second energy burst almost identical to the anomaly that was detected during the battle with the Third Angel, the same anomaly which lead to the appearance of Gotenks.", She hesitated before continuing "It was then though, that the Magi detected something else..." she paused and manipulated the image.

Misato leaned in, squinting at the 3d model, "What is it?" she asked.

Maya nodded at the image which showed a single spike rising up to the very top of the image, "All three Magi believe this must have been a sensor glitch, possibly caused by the recent attacks or a distortion caused by the anomaly."

Misato frowned, "Why do they think that?"

Maya swallowed, "It's because, for just a few seconds, a signal which completely dwarfed anything even Gotenks gave off appeared and almost overwhelmed our sensors, it then disappeared completely off our scope." Maya said, finishing her report, "I couldn't have been real, Captain. Gotenks' power may be insane, but this, it would've been utterly incomprehensible in terms of sheer power."

Misato eyed the image, "Well we haven't seen anything since, so I suppose it could've been just a sensor ghost. Ritsuko?" she asked, turning to the doctor.

"What d'you think it means?" She asked the doctor, who was silently lulling the information over in her head.

"I'm not entirely _sure_," responded the doctord slowly, tapping her pen off her chin in thought, "If we haven't detected anything since the battle, and we detected the same energy burst that occurred during the incident with the third angel, then I suppose that it's possible that they've gone back to wherever it was they came from, for all we know the large spike could have been nothing more than a ripple effect." she continued twirling her pen between her fingers as she thought, "_unfortunately_, all we have to go on right now is educated guesses."

"I guess it's just a matter of waiting. If something happens, it happens. If not, I guess we can consider this little 'oddity' to be over" Misato said as Maya prepared to leave the office.

"_Possibly_..." Dr Akagi muttered, still deep in contemplation.

"I just hope those kids get home safely." Maya spoke out in her own soft tone, earning a tiny smile from Misato and a further contemplating hum from her Sempai.

"Like I said; I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Misato observed before continuing, "So how's Unit-01 doing?"

"Not too good, Misato," The doctor explained "The EVA received a severe blow to the back of the head. The shockwaves have damaged the neural circuits extensively, they could take anything up to a week to regenerate. The arm is just as bad. Unless we're 'lucky' enough for the EVA to decide to go berserker on us for a few seconds and completely regenerate itself, then it looks like Unit-01 could be out of commission for two whole weeks at bare minimum."

"_Well_… Less work for Shinji, at least. Good for him..." Misato spoke.

"After what's happened," Maya began "It's not as like he doesn't deserve some time off." she went silent at that, her mind wandering back to all the recent event incidents involving the unfortunate Third Child.

"Can't argue with you there, Maya..." said Misato softly before leaving the office to hunt down a vending machine.

-Ω-

Meanwhile, on the green plane above Tokyo-3 which was currently occupied by a dome-shaped house.

Trunks was standing on the opposite side of the railing that stopped walkers from accidentally tripping over the edge of the cliff. He simply stood, staring off into the distance over Tokyo-3; his mind occupied by one daunting question: How do they expect to get home? His mind ticket it over, _'Just how can we even __**start**__ to do it? We couldn't even get into the Time Chamber, how do we expect to do it right and then get home? I'm smart, but I'm not mom!'_ His brow was clenched in a frown, his teeth gritted together, as he tried to push himself away from the perspective that it may very well be a hopeless cause.

Goten was, however, currently preoccupied with his own issues _'Butterflies! Butterflies! Never seen so many butterflies!'_ he thought happily as he ran around in the long grass, hopping up into the air once every so often in an attempt to capture one of the flying bugs.

"Trunks, look at this!" Goten shouted to his solitary friend, who remained silent "Trunks!" He repeated louder, the elder boy's brow twitching "TRUUUNKS!" He bellowes even louder, oblivious to his friend's mood.

"_WHAT?_" Trunks snapped. Goten froze as his friend, who's mind was full of worries, tried his best not to shed any tears. He was angered, and even half-envious, that his friend could remain so happy and carefree despite the their situation.

"Look, Goten! The chances are we're stranded in this damned weird world with no way to get back! We've got people with giant robots crawling up our behinds! So why don't you tell me: HOW YOU CAN BE SO DAMN CALM OVER IT?" He half-roared, a few stray tears splashing out from the corners of his eyes.

"_Well,_" Goten began, sucking his thumb in thought before continuing "We don't need to worry... 'cause our parents will just get us back!" He exclaimed. Trunks' mood lifted slightly, catching on to his friend's train of thought. He was sure of his mother's skills; when it came to science, she could do anything in his opinion. His face dared to show a small smile as he found a small ray of light at the end of the tunnel.

"Even if they _can't,_" Trunks began, his spirits rising as he continued, "they still have the Dragonballs!" He finished, finally catching fully on to the reason for his companion's high spirits, "Goten... you may be a gullible idiot at times, but you really do have your moments." He said with a smile, walking over to his friend, "You know what this means, right?"

"Nuh uh." Goten said, shaking his head slowly.

"It _means_ that this is nothing more than a glorified vacation! _True;_ we're probably gonna get in some real trouble from our moms when we get back, and maybe even get grounded for a couple of centuries, but that doesn't mean we can't make up for it in the meantime!" Trunks said happily, his young cohort smiling right back.

"Yup, and that doesn't mean we can't get some training in from this too, does it, Trunks?" Goten returned.

"It certainly does not, my friend." Trunks said, looking out over Tokyo-3, a devilish smirk playing across his face, "And let the weaklings send their giant robots... Gotenks will be right here waiting for them...

-Ω-

_Meanwhile, on Hikari's roof..._

"You got anything yet, Vegeta?" Goku enquired as he broke his focus to ask the Saiyan prince for an update.

"_Nothing_. Those brats certainly are good at stealth, I'll give them that." Vegeta responded, never breaking his crossed-arm pose.

"Well this is getting us nowhere. I vote we split up. One of us should scout the streets, since maybe they're trying to keep a low profile, and there could be a chance of finding them. And also because I'm not so sure the boys would have been in that big a rush to leave the immediate area. At the same time, one of us should scout out the city and surrounding area from the air. What do you think?" Goku said, turning to fully face Vegeta.

"Fine, anything beats this pointless endeavour," Vegeta said in his usual manner, "You wait here and take the ground. I'm not quite sure how much longer I can stand being around you." Without another word he dashed forwards and took to the skies.

"And just what does that mean?" Goku mumbled in an insulted tone to his departing comrade. "I don't know; that guy.." Goku said with a small laugh before glancing down and hopping off the roof, dropping down the four stories and landing on the pavement as effortlessly as if he were merely stepping off a curb, thankfully just missing the passing form of Kenskue Aida by less than four feet as he passed by oblivious to the Saiyan's landing, who then simply turned about and headed in the opposite direction.

The street was totally deserted of people. "No one round at all..." Goku mumbled as he glanced up and down the street curiously, ignoring the single school boy he had just landed behind _'I wish most cities were like this'_ he thought slightly happily. He then reasoned that following the only person in sight to more people might just lead to some clues as to the boy's whereabouts. And so, on that, Goku began slowly shadowing the boy.

-Ω-

Vegeta, who had just finished a quick reconnaissance over Tokyo-3 and turned up nothing, had decided to follow a hunch which had formed up in his head. And so, upon returning to the roof containing the capsule house, he walked swiftly inside and returned soon after carrying two equally sized capsules bearing the Capsule Corp's top level tech department logo. Pushing the buttons down on both capsules, he dropped them in front of him.

Two bursts of smoke later revealed a pair of new objects in their place.

One was an apparently innocent-looking ivory-white netbook computer. This unit was in fact an extremely high-tech communications unit, as well as a miniature sized super-computer (at least by NERV standards that is).

The other object was a strange, metallic device, cylindrical in shape, mounted on a small stand, which in turn had on it several buttons and controls. This odd piece of equipment happened to be Bulma's soon-to-be-patented trans-dimensional energy flux generator. _'This better work. I'm not searching this entire damned planet nor will I be standing around waiting for those boys decide to show themselves'_

He frowned as he reached behind the laptop and pulled out an extendable cord from the back. This was in fact the antenna connector cable. The other end was designed to be plugged into a portable dish or such forth. Instead of connecting it to anything like that, he reached over and plugged it directly into the generator's output link, which had a port for an emission dish to be put in. The dish would normally be used to channel the energy out at one point and was in fact what they used to direct their fused energy at to punch a hole into this universe, but he was assured if he connected it directly to the laptop's communication port like he was doing now, then it would, theoretically, give him a direct wireless link back to his home world.

Theoretically.

_'Okay, woman, let's just see if you were right about being able to do this... '_

Vegeta smirked as he booted up his wife's personal laptop before reaching over to the generator and flicking a switch upwards. The edges of the device began to glow neon blue as the machine hummed to life.

He twisted the dial on the device up to maximum, the light intensifying and the humming grew in volume, before levelling off, signifying the generator to be at maximum output.

-Ω-

"What in the hell is _that_?" Aoba exclaimed as he monitored the alert that just flared up on his screen, describing the energy signal.

"Report!" Dr Akagi demanded as she ran onto the bridge, the alarms still suddebly blaring out about her.

"The Magi appear to be detecting an A.T. field coming from _somewhere_ within the city!" He explained, attempting to speak above the alarm.

"Pattern analysis; is it an angel?" Came the voice of Kozo Fuyutski, who had just entered from the rear elevator.

"Is the pattern orange or blue!" The doctor shouted, prompting Lieutenant Hyuuga.

He shook his head in confusion, hesitating before giving the only answer he could"…_Both_"

"_Both?_" The sub-commander echoed.

"The energy pattern is rapidly fluctuating between both blue _and_ orange at a steady rate." Maya explained as she read off her own screen.

"What does it mean?" The sub-commander pondered out loud.

"I don't know sir. The signal is very weak, but extremely focused." Maya responded.

"Keep monitoring the signal and try to pinpoint it's exact location." the commander ordered before turning to Aoba "Inform Commander Ikari." His eyes trailed to the area of the main display marked 'pattern analysis' the wording virtually blurred between the words 'orange' and 'blue'.

-Ω-

"_Come on_…" Vegeta groaned as he stared at the screen, which simply displayed the words 'establishing connection'

Seconds later, there was as successful _ding_ and the image on the screen blinked to an image of the capsule logo; the top of the screen displaying the words 'connection established'

Vegeta's face twitched into a smile as he pulled out his cell phone and plugged it into the side of the terminal, the screen confirming the device's link-up.

He had just set the phone down by the machine when, to his surprise, the laptop's screen began working again.

Just then, the light on his cell phone began to blink, indicating an outgoing data connection, Vegeta's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the spot just underneath the rectangle displaying 'connection established', where a second rectangle had suddenly blinked into existence displaying the words 'secondary connection established'. _'What the hell?'_ Vegeta thought, his eyes showing intense curiosity.

Ignoring this for now, he entered the command for a video-phone conference call and dialled up Bulma's number.

The screen flickered for several seconds as it attempted to establish a video link under the unstable connection. The laptop managed to successfully compensate after several seconds, the screen blinking to the image of Bulma's lab. _'Ahh, there you are...'_ Vegeta grinned.

His smile fell after a second as he noticed his wife was on the other side of the lab with her back to the terminal. She was hunched over, adjusting some unexplainable device, oblivious to the video-link behind her. Vegeta scowled.

"Woman!" Vegeta barked into the screen's built in mic. Bulma remained oblivious still, as Vegeta got more and more frustrated "WOMAN!" He practically roared into the screen _'human females,'_ he contemplated with a sigh, _'how insolent' _

Bulma stood bolt upright in shock, the spanner in her hand flying off to the other side of the room. She swung about, eying the room. Her eyes trained on the screen.

"Vegeta?" Bulma asked surreally as she cocked her head to the side and walked up to the chair in front of the video screen, sitting down in front of it "Is that you?" she breathed, reaching out to touch the screen.

"Who do you _think_ it is, woman?" he asked sarcastically, his somewhat easy to build frustration bubbling over.

"Oh _look,_ it's my dear husband making one of his usual polite phone calls," she said sarcastically as she frowned at her Saiyan spouse.

"I don't have time for this, Bulma! I've managed to link this thing up to you from here like you told me to. Now I want you to see what you can make of it. You are a genius after all!" Vegeta said with great impatience, adding that last part to appease his wife's ego.

Bulma growled at her husband, "_Alright._ Since obviously you can't do this yourself... You'd best give me a minute."

"Hurry up then, woman!" He shouted after about five seconds of silence.

"ALRIGHT!" she roared back, not giving in to her husband as she slid on her chair over to a nearby terminal, accessing the link her husband had dialled in.

The screen was obviously showing more than she had originally thought, as her eyes were narrowing as she hummed curiously, the scowl she had worn a moment ago gone. "What's this? He's linked up to a second system…" she mumbled under her breath "There's more than you think here, Vegeta." She said quietly with a serious note in her voice.

"What do you mean?" He asked in a more curious, yet still somewhat arrogant tone.

"I _mean..._ this secondary connection you've linked into contains a massive amount of information. I've downloaded it from you… Let's see, " She paused as she began reading off the file listings that had been copied, each one as bewildering as the last "Surveillance records... Personnel information... Layout diagrams... Repair schedules... Unit-00 _Crhyostasis status..._ _EVA _combat records? There's so much… "She breathed out in shock before continuing "… What _is_ all this?" She turned her eyes back to her husband, "Vegeta, it's like a military mainframe…"

"It's of no importance, " he said dismissively, the seemed to think on it, "_unless_... Bulma, is there any information on Trunks and Goten?"

She shook her head, rubbing her brow, "I don't know yet Vegeta. This is going to take me a while to sift through. It's a huge chunk of data you got there. And that generator only has a limited power supply. You'd better disconnect it for now and get back to me in a few hours, our system should be able to automatically filter out any extraneous nonsense and give me all the important information I need.

"Fine… I'll wait around, the boys have been hiding their power levels like we have, so it's been a useless endeavour searching. Get the information ready as soon as possible." He finished almost commandingly.

"Don't worry, I will!" She replied sternly. Vegeta reached over to disconnect the generator, only to be interrupted by Bulma "And Vegeta…" She began softly.

"What?" He enquired.

"Bring my baby back safely…" She whispered almost pleadingly.

Vegeta wasn't one to show weakness, but his wife did know how to get at him inside, so he allowed himself a stern nod. "Don't worry, woman," he said in an attempt to be arrogant, but it came out much softer than he intended, "Kakarott and I will not fail" He said sternly, earning a smile from Bulma as he flicked the switch on the generator, the image of his wife fading to nothing, leaving him staring at a 'connection lost' message.

"Hmph, guess I'll leave it up to her." He commented out loud as he returned the generator and terminal to their capsules.

He walked back to the edge of the building and glanced irritably down at the city below him, "Now where is that bumbling idiot?"

-Ω-

Meanwhile, on the NERV command bridge, all hell was breaking loose...

"I can't explain it!" Ibuki shouted over the commotion, "Someone just accessed the MAGI and bypassed every single security protocol we have as if they weren't there!"

"That's just not possible! All our firewalls are foolproof!" Dr Akagi shouted, baffled how someone could possibly breach her system like the lieutenant was implying.

"The hacking system's OS was non-compatible. It couldn't be identified, yet somehow it adapted to our network and slipped right in!" Maya shouted.

"Hacked from _where_?" Ritsuko dedmanded.

"The MAGI are still calculating. It was caused by something _defiantly_ not hardwired into our system, it must have been a remote wireless access." the female lieutenant added as the source code of the access logs streamed by.

"From where?" Fuyutski reiterated loudly, getting frustrated.

"The MAGI are attempting to triangulate the microwave signals, one moment sir." She paused as a mapped image of Tokyo-3 came up, two green lines sweeping over the map from the x and y directions.

"_There,_" Aoba commented as it focused in on an address, names and faces appearing automatically on the screen, representing the residents of the building.

"It's at virtually the exact coordinates of the location of the A.T. field we detected!" Hyuuga shouted dramatically (as he does).

"You think an _Angel_ tried to hack the Magi?" Aoba asked disbelievingly.

"If it _was_ an Angel..." Dr Akagi commented.

"Status on that energy signal?" Fuyutski enquired.

"Confirmed; the signal has completely disappeared!" Ibuki stated after double-checking her readouts.

"To where, where could an Angel just 'disappear' to?" Aoba asked with a note of bewilderment that was shared by everyone else on the bridge.

"It must've been a system detection error; the hacker must've caused it as some kind of distraction." Commander Fuyutski offered, this being the first plausible explanation for the anomaly.

"That… s_ounds_ reasonable. After all, Angels aren't exactly the most inconspicuous things to be seen in a built up residential area." Hyuuga commented, the other command staff accepting this explanation for now also.

"Very well then, I want a complete report on all information accessed, and order a full section 2 sweep for a three city block radius." The commander ordered, the staff then going about their business as ordered.

-Ω-

Meanwhile, at the Vegeta/Goku/Horaki building…

_'Hmph, no use hanging about here then.'_ Vegeta contemplated, realising this was in retrospect probably a bad place to set up camp. He walked over to the small dome-shaped building and lifted a flap near the door. He pushed the rectangular button beneath, the house bursting into a _poof_ of smoke for a second, leaving only a small capsule on the ground to show it had ever been there.

Vegeta pocketed the capsule and quickly thrust himself back up into the sky to search for Goku, who had agreed to leave his ki just high enough for him to sense. Unfortunately, this was _not_ enough for Goten and Trunks to sense. _Fortunately_ though, this was just low enough for the Magi to overlook as extraneous background energy.

-Ω-

Goku, at this point, was sitting cross-legged on a street sign. _'Well I'm out of ideas...'_ he thought with a glum sigh. He had decided to try again and search for the boy's ki and wait for Vegeta before choosing to implement their only remaining course of action. He hadn't want to do this yet as it was somewhat of a risk, especially since they still didn't know the strength of the people in this world, nor if they could sense ki or not.

He was about to take off to find Vegeta when he opened his eyes and saw something rather unexpected: A very strange-looking girl with blue hair and large red eyes had stopped next to the post, and was now looking up at him with deep scrutiny.

"Umm… _Hello_?" He enquired uncertainly, as the injured girl continued to stare at him in silence.

Rei Ayanami nodded her head in acknowledgement of the greeting as she finished her scrutiny of the stranger she had paused to observe _'His appearance is similar to Goten-kun's, perhaps they are related in some way'_ Rei contemplated as she stared into the curious eyes of the stranger who was leaning in to regard her back _'those eyes, it's those eyes, and that stare…'_ she contemplated, before choosing to speak.

"Are you related to Goten-kun?" She enquired suddenly.

If she needed confirmation, it was given in that Goku suddenly slipped clean off the post and landed face first into the pavement below. Rei looked down at the prone warrior stoically _'yes...definitely related.'_

"_What_?" Goku gasped in shock, pushing himself to his feet and dusting himself down."Do you know where Goten is!" he demanded urgently.

"No." She stated simply.

"Well do you have any idea where he might be? You see, I'm his father and well… we're kind of looking for him so we can take him back home."

_'His father… I suspected as much'_ she contemplated silently, just as Goku continued, "He's with this other boy too: purple hair; about the same height as Goten, his name's-"

"-Trunks." Rei said, cutting the Saiyan off. She narrowed her eyes for a second in contemplation of all the facts, _'to take him home... it should not pose any problem by assisting him with this'._

After a moment's thought, she spoke, "I am unsure. Although, the Third Child may have an idea of their current location." Rei said as she thought back to the events of the encounter with Unit-01 that had been described to her, and also the Third's outright refusal to divulge what Gotenks had whispered to him upon the conclusion.

_'The Third Child?' _Goku contemplated, "You gotta tell me where this guy is! If he knows where the boys are, then I've got to ask him."

Rei stood silent for a few minutes as she pondered the request _'School is concluded for today and there are no tests scheduled at headquarters, so my duties shall not be inconvenienced, I also do not believe this person would injure pilot Ikari, and it may also lead to my discovering the information Commander Ikari requested I enquire about from Pilot Ikari'_ by the time she was done with her contemplations Goku was hopping almost frantically from foot to foot.

She turned to the Saiyan and nodded, beckoning her hand ahead of her, "Pilot Ikari's residence is this way, please follow." Rei stated to Goku. He regarded her blankly in response and she resisted the urge to sigh quietly, "Pilot Ikari is the Third Child" she explained, having some foresight into the way Goten's mind worked, she realised that she may have to explain certain things just as extensively to the father as she did to the son.

Goku nodded and began to follow the First child with a degree of anticipation "And Vegeta said this would be a waste of time!" he commented gaily.

Rei, who had been ordered by the commander to gather as much information on the Saiyans as she could, enquired in her usual quiet monotone, "Vegeta?"

Goku shrugged, "Well, yeah. We both came to this world to find our boys. I'm Goten's father, Vegeta is Trunks'."

Rei remained silent as her mind processed this information _'So... there are four now'_

"What's your name by the way?" Goku enquired after a moment, only just realising he didn't even know that much about the strange pale girl.

"Rei Ayanami," She replied as simply as always.

They continued on walking in silence for a few minutes, a silence the Saiyan chose to break, "You…don't like to talk much, do you?" He enquired lightly.

"No." replied bluntly as they both carried on walking, Rei never breaking her emotionless mask. Goku paused to laugh softly to himself. _'Why does he consider me to be amusing?'_ She contemplated with a note of confusion.

Goku allowed the conversation to settle into silence and simply followed the girl for several minutes, until they came to a stop in front of an apartment block.

Rei glanced at the piece of paper in her hand that had the Third Child and Captain Katsuragi's shared address written on it.

"The Third Child resides here." Rei commented and, without another word, lead the way towards the lift. Goku inclined his head acceptingly and followed on behind, resisting the urge to simply leap up to the correct floor from outside the building, as he realised it would be bad manners to leave his guide trailing behind.

As they reached the correct floor, Goku followed Rei to the door at the far end.

-Ω-

Shinji had just gotten in from school at this point and had, instead of starting any too strenuous work straight off, chosen to flop down onto his back on the couch in the living room to get just a few moments of relaxation before that evenings tasks began.

He had uneasily survived the first few days of his new school, grateful for the lack of attention from the other students and also about their current lack of knowledge in relation to his pilot status. _'At least I can enjoy these few last euphoric minutes of sweet nothingness before Misato wakes up... then all hell will break loose… Thursdays... Her turn to cook'_ He contemplated with a wince, reaching for his SDAT player, only to pause as the doorbell rang _'So much for my blissful alone time...'_ he thought with a sad sigh, pulling himself up and heading for the door.

With one last sigh, he pushed the door control. The sight that greeted him is _not_ one which he would have expected, to say the least.

"A-Ayanami-san?" he stuttered, shocked as to why the girl who he had barely even shared a single sentence with would have come to visit.

His eyes travelled upwards to the tall form standing next to her, suddenly he found his mind flashing back to the battle.

The clothes, the face; the second one he had encountered, the one who had shot the EVA through the arm with that energy beam. With the exception of his hair not being blonde, he was the spitting image of him.

With the exception of the disconcerting fact that he was about four feet taller, that is.

"W-Who are you?" was all he found himself stammering out. He found himself forgetting about Rei's presence entirely as he locked eyes with the man.

Surprisingly, the stranger's response was to smile widely, "Hey there." He said in an oddly carefree tone, raising a hand in greeting, "I'm Goku, Son Goku, nice to meet you." He extended a hand cordially.

_'He's just like them...'_ Shinji contemplated, somewhat in shock, finding himself almost numbly extending his hand to shake the stranger's. "Ikari, Shinji Ikari".

"Shinji, huh? Well, Shinji, I was wondering if you and I could maybe have a little chat..."

By this point, Shinji had already made up his own mind about the Saiyans, and had decided that, in his mind, they weren't a threat (at least to him that was), whether this was just out of defiance toward his father, he wasn't sure, but something deep inside him was telling him to trust the strange man with the goofy smile. And so he stepped aside and invited the two visitors inside.

-Ω-

_'What's Kakarott up to? This is no time to be socialising!'_ Vegeta contemplated with a scowl, having decided to follow Goku and Rei's progress from the air, and also deciding to allow his Saiyan comrade to use his 'personal skills' alone. And so here he was; standing on the ledge of a nearby building with his arms folded as he watched the building patiently

_Well..._ as patiently as Vegeta could be.

In other words..._Impatiently._

-Ω-

"Misato, we have company!" Shinji announced through the door of his guardian's room, knowing she would just be in the process of waking up from her nap in time for the night shift, also believing it best he give her some apt warning so she didn't come out dressed _inappropriately_.

"Mmm_Company?_" Came Misato's muffled and confused voice through the door, "'kay I'll be right there, just give me a minute." _'Has he brought a friend home? I'm glad he's beginning to socialise at least… Who knows, perhaps it's a girl'_ she contemplated with a grin as she clawed her way out of her futon and slipped into her usual clothes with surprising speed and efficiency.

"Take a seat," Shinji offered uneasily, beckoning to the sofa and armchairs, Goku slipping into an armchair, Rei slowly sitting down on the left side of the couch, her schoolbag resting in her lap.

"What can I do for you?" Shinji enquired to the guests, his glance occasionally drifting to the stoic First Child.

Goku gave a quick explanation about the reason for his visit, mentioning Vegeta's presence in the city also before waiting for Shinji's reply on any information he had on their children.

"W-well, here's the thing," Shinji began, rubbing the back of his head in contemplation, "My father's organisation, NERV, found out about your sons in Tokyo-3 and, well, _kind of_ tried to keep the one called Trunks locked up, " Shinji paused, biting his lip, "...Trunks didn't like this".

"Lemme guess," Goku began, "boom?" Goku said, a slight smile on his face.

Shinji cocked his head, "Big boom." He replied, not noticing Misato now leaning against the doorway, listening in curiously as he continued, "And he sort of broke free. My _father_ wanted control over your children, and so he tricked me into trying to capture them using my EVA; a giant fighting bio-mechanical robot I pilot, he told me they were an enemy, to be captured else they might try and kill a whole bunch of people." He continued quietly, his eyes on the floor.

"Goten and Trunks would never harm a fly!" Goku protested, now slightly worried about his son's safety due to the pilot's ashamed attitude.

"And I believe you," Shinji said, his eyes coming up to meet Goku's "that's why I let them go." he said, Misato still listening curiously in an attempt to get _some _insight into her young charge.

"W-well did they tell you where they went!" Goku asked, a note of urgency in his voice.

"Not _exactly,_ but just before they left they did tell me something…" He said, pausing as if contemplating how mucht to say in the First Child's presence. He didn't really want to be the cause of another run in with the Saiyans if she happened to mention anything of importance to his father. He breathed a sigh and continued anyway, "They said they would be staying somewhere just outside the city. My best guess would be that they'd set up camp in the grasslands. You should probably start there."

"Is that what you were withholding, Shinji?" Shinji flinched as Misato's soft voice drifted over, the Captain herself walking past him and settling on the couch near Rei.

"Yeah…" Shinji admitted quietly.

"You didn't want your father to find them, did you?" Misato asked slowly of her charge.

"Well how could I _want_ to?" Shinji snapped back, unable to keep the feelings that had been building over the past few days contained, "If he went after them, not only would that make him even more of a cold hateful jerk," he went on, his voice raising as his pent up emotions about his father's treatment of him since calling him to Tokyo-3 simply to be used as a tool began to bubble over, ones he had been forced to suppress since his initial encounter with his father in unit-01's cage before the battle with Sachiel, but being used and lied to was one step too much even for him, and so he continued "but let me ask you something, Misato; just _who_ would it end up being having to choose between his principals or having to go out and risking all _just_ in order to save that _bastard's_ life when he finally did get what's coming to him, huh!"

Misato was in total shock, her jaw hanging open. Goku was sitting lower in his seat. Rei stood up suddenly and walked over to the angry Third Child who currently had his fists slammed into the coffee table to support him and was now gasping for air to steady himself. Shinji's eyes met the injured pilot's for a second before standing back up to full height, walking straight past the First Child and back to his room, ignoring the girl who had obviously had something to say back about his outburst.

Lucky for him, he'd been a half-second away from getting a slap across the face.

"Well, at least he got that of his chest!" Goku said in a nervously cheery tone, trying to raise the spirits in the room a bit, "better out than in as they say!" he added, Misato staring straight down as if not hearing him.

"Yeah, I've always tried to press him to get his feelings out more. To tell you the truth; I'm not surprised…" Misato commented quietly.

"You will excuse me." Rei said politely to her commanding officer and the Saiyan as she turned to leave.

"Well, thanks a load for your help, Rei!" Goku said, waving a goodbye to the girl, earning a curt nod in response as she walked towards the door. She paused outside Shinji's door for a second, as if deciding between going in or not, before continuing on to the door and leaving.

"I guess I'd better be making tracks too." Goku said,standing up, bowing once politely "Nice meeting you." he finished, leaving a very solemn-looking Misato in his wake as he left.

-Ω-

Goku walked out onto the landing outside the apartment. He contemplated taking the lift, before dismissing it and simply hopping off the side of the railing and flying out fifteen or so metres. He glanced around, looking for what he was sensing.

"Vegeta!" Goku shouted over to his companion who was sitting on the ledge on one of the opposite buildings, back to the wall and one knee bent up to his chest.

"Finished, are you?" Vegeta responded sarcastically with mild frustration as he hopped up and into midair, floating towards his companion, "Are you sure you want to leave? Wouldn't you would like to stop for dinner too?".

"Sorry about that Vegeta, but it was worth it. This kid told me where he thought the boys might be." Goku explained.

"Really, where?" Vegeta enquired in his usual arrogant, yet notably curious tone.

"Well, he didn't say exactly _where_, but he said the boys had told him they were gonna set up camp somewhere just outside the city. So I think all we gotta do to find them is circle the edge of the city and signal for them."

"Sounds simple enough, but signal them how?" Enquired the prince with a frown.

"Well, all we have to do is raise our power levels. I don't think we've got anything to worry about even if we are detected. It turns out the boys have already been able to handle themselves against what this world has to offer."

"Alright… Let's do it." Vegeta replied after a brief moment's silence, not bothering to enquire about the boy's battle with the EVA just yet, "I'm sick of all this cowardly sneaking about, anyway. If they do want to play, Kakarott, then I'll just destroy them." Vegeta commented, an evil grin playing across his features.

"_Vegeta…_" Goku sighed, before continuing "Well I suppose we'd best get started."

Not bothering to worry about sensors anymore, Goku and Vegeta's bodies were suddenly engulfed in the blue-white flame of their natural auras as they powered up and shot off in opposite directions towards the edge of the city.

The journey to the city limits took less than five seconds each, both warriors coming to a halt on opposite sides before initiating their plans final phase.

Both spread their arms out the sides slightly and roared, their bodies' outlines beginning to glow with an ethereal gold as they raised their power levels. Neither actually transformed into a Super Saiyan, but their aura's still burs outwards into a familiar golden flame as they shot off in clockwise and anticlockwise directions around Tokyo-3, each keeping their eyes peeled on the ground for signs of the boys. They picked up speed, both moving so fast their aura trail had almost stretched completely round the circumference of Tokyo-3, giving the city an almost eerie golden halo effect.

-Ω-

Goten and Trunks, who had been having arm-wrestling matches for the past hour or so _had_ been about to take a nap, when suddenly both of their heads swung about towards the skies in the direction of the unmistakable ki they had sensing. Their eyes lock on the familiar golden fire trail that stretched around the city. Both boys swung about to face each other, shouting simultaneously with excitement,

"IT'S MY DAD!"

"Told you they would come, Trunks!" Goten stated happily and somewhat loudly.

"A bit sooner than I'd have thought, but just as good." Trunks said, cocking his head.

"I think they're trying to call us!" Goten shouted excitedly as he pointed up to the trails..

"_Well, _I guess we'd better reply then, shouldn't we?" Trunks said, grinned mischievously as he jumped backwards onto a nearby rock, suddenly releasing his ki and powering up to maximum, the rock underneath shattering under the sudden force.

"Gotcha, Trunks!" Goten replied as he flipped back onto another nearby rock, imitating Trunks' power-up.

"Ready?" Trunks said steadily, raising his palm flat up into the air.

"Ready!" Goten shouted as he raised his.

"NOW!" Both shouted at the same time, each sending up a thick brilliant-yellow ki bolt into the air, both exploded above them like a pair of two giant distress flares, their glowing auras helping to add to their conspicuousness.

"Goten"" Goku shouted, abruptly changing course, his aura trail twisting to the side

"Trunks…"Vegeta mumbled, pulling left, his trail twisting also, giving a large golden spiral effect as the two Saiyans headed towards the source of the boy's ki, their aura trails crossing over one another.

-Ω-

Both boys watched in anticipation as their fathers closed in and landed next to the capsule house.

"Dad!" Goten shouted happily as he ran straight for his father, jumping straight at him.

"H-hey there, little guy!" Goku said happily catching his son in his arms and ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Father!" Trunks said running up to Vegeta, sensibly skidding to a halt in front of him.

"Trunks… It's good to see you are well. Have you been injured?" Vegeta spoke, giving his go at being the dedicated father.

"I'm fine dad! I fought this giant robot," he shouted excitedly, before continuing "and I kicked its ass! And I blew a big hole in its base too! Goten helped out a little bit too, I guess" he explained loudly, running over the last part quickly.

Vegeta assimilated this for a second in silence before giving his son a small smile, resting his hand down on his head, "That's good work son, you've done well." He said in a serious, yet somehow soft tone, earning a wide smile from his son.

"And that's about it, dad!" Goten, who had been explaining his own little journey as Trunks had to his own dad, finished.

"Wow that's quite the little adventure you've had, Goten. It was nice of your friends to help us find you guys, but you know Goten…" Goku began, his voice taking on a somewhat serious tone, "What you did was very dangerous, son. Your mom was very worried about you." Goten, who had averted his eyes to the ground sadly, was now shuffling his feet in the dirt.

"I know dad, and I'm sorry. All I wanted to do was be strong enough to fight with you and Gohan…"

"Oh come on, Goten, you know you can train with me and your big brother any time you want. You don't need to run off and try and train in the hyperbolic Time Chamber. I'll be proud of you no matter how strong you are." Goku said reassuringly, Goten's smile returning in response.

Trunks had not really needed to explain himself to his father, who on the inside was secretly proud that his son had been trying to strive to become an even more powerful warrior.

"Well, guess it's time we caller your mother!" Goku said happily to his son, turning to Vegeta, "Hey, Vegeta, shall we call Bulma now?"

"_Fine,_ the sooner we get out of this pathetic world, the better." Vegeta scoffed as he pulled out the generator and computer capsules, swiftly setting up the link again. He placed the laptop on a rock in front of the four Saiyans.

"Vegeta, are you there?" Bulma asked in anticipation as the screen began to clear, her husband's image coming up on screen, Chi-Chi was present to her left.

"Yes, woman, I'm here." Vegeta grunted in his usual tone.

"Mom!" Trunks said excitedly, nudging his father slightly out of the image.

"Trunks! Oh, thank god you're okay! Do you have any idea how worried we've all been about you" Bulma said, scowling at the boy in the way only a mother could.

"I know… I'm really sorry, mom…" Trunks replied softly, his face falling. He hated being scolded by his mother as much as he did his father.

"…That's okay, Trunks," Bulma gave in with a sigh, a soft smile spreading over her face "just as long as you're okay." She said, earning a beaming smile from her son.

"I'm here too!" Goten shouted excitedly, waving a hand in front of Trunks when he noticed noticing his mother's presence, who immediately stood up to the screen.

"Goten, You're okay! Oh, I'm so relieved!" Her face immediately switched into an open scowl, "You're in big trouble, young man. You just wait till you get home, you're gonna be grounded for a month… and... and that's it." she finished, her heart just not really into punishing her youngest too much right now.

"Yes, mom…" Goten accepted, his eyes falling slightly.

"Goku?" Bulma enquired. The Saiyan approached the screen, "how are things? Have been looking after Vegeta for me?" Bulma said, unable to help teasing slightly, grinning at the growl coming from somewhere off-screen.

"All's great ladies, We're fine!" Goku said to both with a reassuring smile.

"Enough of this, we can all have our happy reunions later." Vegeta interrupted, "Just tell me how to set this thing up so we can get home." He demanded and, to the surprise of the four Saiyans, both women's eyes fell somewhat, and all were understandably shocked at Bulma's next words.

"You can't" She replied simply with a sad tone. All four Saiyan's (even Vegeta) gasping slightly.

"What do you mean, we _can't?_!" Vegeta demanded sternly, his wife taking a deep breath before continuing.

"I've discovered a problem in the data I obtained from the Magi; that's the system we downloaded all that data from earlier. At first all seemed okay, but after running some calculations based on the energy readings stored in that system, I've noticed a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Vegeta pushed.

"I was getting to that! You see Vegeta, there were two opposing forces in the universe you now occupy that, when clashed together, destabilised the dimensional fabric, allowing us to punch a hole through from our end. Now, from what I can tell, one of those two forces seems to be far more predominant than the other in the atmosphere of the world you now occupy and is, in effect, causing a form of 'blocking mechanism', preventing a full outgoing dimensional hole from being created from your universe and back into ours.

At the moment the best you can get is this small link that we're using right now, but in order for you to have any chance of creating a stable vortex to use to get back home, then you're going to have to seek out the multiple dormant and/or active sources which are generating this blocking force." Bulma explained.

"And just what _is_ generating this force?" Vegeta enquired.

"_This:_" Bulma stated as she hit a control; an image of the Third Angel came up on the screen.

"What the hell is that?" Vegeta spoke, frowning at the creature.

"This, dear husband, is an _Angel_. According to the Magi, it was this creature which generated the opposing force which you must remove in order to come home."

"So you're saying all I've got to do is pummel this monster into the ground and we're done?" Vegeta asked, a subtle grin on his face.

"Not so fast, Vegeta, apparently this Angel has already been destroyed, by Evangelion Unit-01 to be precise; something I believe you boys have _met_ before, right?" Bulma asked rhetorically, scowling at the boys, having already read the stolen NERV report on the incident, both boys grinning sheepishly. Bulma continued with a sigh, "Anyway, according to my data, there could be over a dozen more of these creatures, all in different forms, scattered over the planet. What you must do is to find and stop these creatures in order to neutralise the force that is stopping you from getting home." Bulma finished.

"So," Vegeta began in his usual arrogant tone, "It's a monster hunt. I destroy the monsters and all's right with the world." He said, an expectant smirk spreading over his features. The Saiyan Prince could practically smell the battles ahead of him.

"I-I guess that's right" Bulma, said, stammering somewhat under her husband's intensity.

"_Fine…_ Though, I supposes this will actually be more interesting than I'd first thought." said the prince slyly.

"But _you,_ Trunks, better not do _any _fighting with _any _giant monsters, you got that? You just leave all that up to your father." Commanded Bulma sternly.

"That goes for you too, Goten." Chi-Chi intervened, staring her boy down intensely.

"Aww mom…" Both boys moaned in tandem, each knowing any argument would be futile.

"Okay then!" Goku said happily, "Guess that's a plan; we find the monsters intent on destroying the world, stop 'em, and then we all go home." summed up the Saiyan lightly.

"That's the size of it." Bulma replied, sighing again at the Saiyan's light take on the situation.

"Fine then, we'll get to work starting tomorrow." Vegeta stated.

"Well you all be careful out there!" Chi-Chi ordered.

Bulma spoke up at that point, "That goes from me too. Oh, and Vegeta, I've sent you all the relevant information from that Magi system. It contains all the information I think you'll need. I'd recommend you review it first before hunting anything"

"Will do!" Goku replied, just in time for Vegeta to cut off the signal.

Silence fell over the grassy plane as Vegeta returned the items to their capsules.

He pulled another capsule out and tossed it down next to Goten and Trunks' house. It exploded in a cloud of smoke, revealing the identical house that Goku and Vegeta had brought with them.

"Guess I'll stay with you then, eh dad?" Trunks asked of his father, somewhat uneasily.

"_Fine_, nothing could be worse than having Kakarott as a roommate." He groaned as he walked off into the house, Trunks following after.

"Let's go dad, I call top bunk!" Goten called happily, running into the house, followed closely by Goku, who just as intently demanded said bunk.

And so, after a long day and search, the two fathers and sons collapsed to sleep as twilight descended into night, it was an early night, but to be fair, they did have a lot of work cut out for them…

-Ω-

And so the days went by as the Saiyans began their systematic search for the Angels, circling the planet from high above, all strategies being controlled by Vegeta of course (This had been primarily because he had been to only one who could be bothered to do his 'homework' on the situation by starting to read through the information given by Bulma).

Unfortunately, so far, the dormant Angels had managed to elude the Saiyan's searches.

In their chrysalis forms, emitting virtually no 'actual' ki, it was almost impossible to detect the slumbering messengers. They ignored the obvious ki signals generated from within NERV headquarters, those being of the wrong energy pattern that they were trying to stop.

Speaking of NERV though, Gendo Ikari already had his section 2 agents scope out the Saiyan campsite. Registering their ki signals coming and going was becoming tedious, as he couldn't actually find out for sure just _what_ they were up to. It appeared they were doing nothing but touring the planet, and since Vegeta had been vigilant enough to always have one of them at the site, it was pretty much impossible for any of NERV's lackeys to penetrate the camp, _well_, not without being punted effortlessly away sixty or so metres like a football.

-Ω-

And for Shinji Ikari, life had gone on for the last few days as normal; Unit-01 was still under repair thanks to Trunks and Goten, the rumours were now flying about him being a pilot, and things had finally settled down between him and Misato after his 'little' outburst in the apartment. If anything, he found Misato and he had grown that little bit closer because of it.

Rei Ayanami, however, was still unsure how to approach the Third Child after the incident. His comments about the commander had angered her, confused her, and even seemed to have stirred something inside of her that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She was also still injured, which didn't really help matters much either.

-Ω-

It was several days later that things began to change once more…

"I doubt we're gonna find _anything_ at this rate." groaned Trunks. They had been scouring the planet for over a week now and still nothing.

"Patience, Trunks. Bulma knows what she's talking about. If she says there's something there then I'm confident that we just haven't found it yet." said Goku reassuringly as they sat together in the Capsule house, all having decided to take a day off. Their food supply was holding up surprisingly well all things considered , thanks to Goku's uncanny fishing methods and such forth.

Goten said, well he said _nothing_ really, he was busy slumbering in the corner; out like a light.

Trunks regarded the boy with a sigh, "I think Goten's got the right idea there. I think I'll take a nap too." He said, slipping over to one of the nearby bunks.

"Can't argue with that." Goku agreed as he sprawled out on the couch right where he was sitting and fell asleep.

"Hmph, sleep if you want." Vegeta grunted, turning about and leaving the capsule house; not being the sort to be caught taking a nap during the day unless he was genuinely exhausted.

Meanwhile, in NERV headquarters, things were starting to stir somewhat

"Status of the target?" Misato demanded over the commotion, claxons blazing out around her.

"It's currently heading on a direct course for Tokyo-3!" responded Hyuuga.

"Pattern is blue! Target confirmed; it's an Angel!" Aoba shouted, confirming everyone's suspicions.

"Have the pilots been notified?" The Captain enquired.

"Yes, Rei should be notifying the Third Child right now" confirmed Maya.

-Ω-

Shinji Ikari was currently flat on his back as Toji and Kensuke had walked off, and was now currently massaging the mark on his face which would no doubt soon be forming into a very nasty bruise.

For just a split-second, Shinji couldn't have thought this day could get any worse, that was until he remembered just what being Shinji Ikari entailed:

Things ALWAYS got worse.

_'Why do I bother…? They don't appreciate me; my father uses me for his dirty work. My life just sucks on so many levels.'_ Shinji contemplated sadly from the flat of his back as the shadow of the First Child closed in over him.

He _had_ however noticed Rei's strange behaviour over the past week or so. Before, she was simply uncaring of his presence or anyone's, but now he could have sworn the First Child was either intentionally avoiding him, or observing him; it didn't really matter to him anyway.

"There's an emergency, I'll report in first." She said abruptly, before turning to run off, but strangely she found herself pausing as she heard the Third Child's voice speak up from behind her.

"_An emergency_?" he echoed with a scoff, "What is it this time, has my father picked a fight with a particularly nasty kitten with super powers and he needs me to bail him out again?"

Rei cocked her head curiously _'what does he mean? Should he not be immediately proceeding to headquarters for briefing?'_ Rei contemplated but, though she didn't quite realise it at the time, she knew deep down exactly what the Third Child was getting at.

"I believe an enemy is approaching Tokyo-3, that is-" Rei was interrupted by the sound of the Third Child's grinning, _'This should _not_ be amusing'_ she contemplated with bewilderment

"An 'enemy'? Well perhaps you could tell me just _who_ my enemy is?" Shinji began as he sat up, turning his head and cocking it curiously at the First before continuing, "Is this my enemy and the enemy of the whole of humanity...or just my _father's_?"

Rei said nothing for a whole minute, she knew she should be running to headquarters now but she found her gaze locked with that of the Third's.

She was, again, about to say something just as Shinji stood up, pulling himself to his feet and dragging his school bag with him. He walked straight past the silent First Child and headed for headquarters.

Rei remained alone in silence for a brief moment, '_Yet again I have been unable to express my opinion to the Third Child… Why does this bother me so?'_

She put the thought out of her head for the moment and turned about to run on after the Third Child, who already having a steady one street lead on her, and ended up reaching headquarters a good five minutes before she did.

-Ω-

Minutes later, Shinji found himself in his plug suit in the EVA's pilot seat, receiving a quick briefing on the angel from over his comm. system.

"Will Unit-01 even work, Ritsuko?" Misato asked, turning to the doctor once she had finished speaking to Shinji.

"We have no choice but to try, we're all doomed unless we do." She replied, almost morbidly.

The captain inclined her head in response, "Begin activation sequence!" She commanded, watching as the monitor screens displayed synchronisation status.

"First and second stage connections have been reached, all green up till now," began one of the technicians as the connection sequence began, "five seconds until absolute borderline... four... three...two... _one..._"

Alarms suddenly blared out around them as the indicators flew backwards and Unit-01 went silent "Negative response! There's still damage in the neural link circuits, absolute borderline cannot be breached! Synchronisation is impossible at this time!" Maya shouted worriedly as the error readouts came through on her screen.

"By god," The doctor gasped to herself, "so what do we do now?" She said, staring forwards with unblinking eyes.

-Ω-

The gargantuan form of the forth angel hovered silently into Tokyo-3 above the sirens, the armament buildings unloading everything they had at the intruder as it raised itself up to full height, it's tentacle arms whipping outwards and cutting a row of armament buildings in three.

Vegeta, at this point, had been hovering over Tokyo-3 as the alarms sounded, he was now watching the intruder with great curiosity as it decimated the native's defences _'Interesting. It appears to be exerting some kind of defence shield, those pathetic toys can't even get close to this weakling'_ Vegeta mused as he contemplated his next course of action. The newcomers ki level was nothing to write home about and, after reading the information on NERV, he knew that it was inevitable that they would no doubt soon dispatch one of their Evangelion Units, which he thought may make for some mild pre-dinner entertainment.

His blue aura blazed into view as he prepared to fly back to camp to get a better view of the fight.

He spun about and shot off across the skies of Tokyo-3.

Now, if the Angel had _any_ foresight as to what was about to happen, and why it was not such a good idea to hit _everything_ in its field of view that it considered a threat, then it might just have held back on the whole waving of tentacle deal a little bit.

After smashing the occasional large missile out of the sky, it made the biggest mistake of its very short life: It sensed the form moving across the skies, and given the situation, deemed it a threat. It therefore chose to act accordingly.

This was not a good idea.

_smack!_

Vegeta literally froze in midair as the large tentacle clipped him across the side of his face.

He raised a hand to his face, as if in awe as to what had just happened.

If the angel could feel confusion, it certainly would be wondering exactly why it's intended victim appeared to feel nothing more than a light slap across the face. In fact, the impact of its tentacle appeared to have caused no effect other than nudging the prince slightly and bringing him to a halt.

It took a few seconds for the shock on Vegeta's face to wear off.

Slowly, almost excruciatingly so, he began to orientate himself about to face the Angel, which had actually stopped it's assault for the moment, and even appeared to be regarding the small form curiously. By the time he had turned about fully, the look on his face had switched one you _really_ don't want to see on the face of someone who might just have taken offence to you.

His brow clenched into a deep frown as he glared his teeth faced the angel. As he slowly moved into a steady fighting stance, fists clenched at his sides, his face turned from anger to what can only be described as sly anticipation, with a smirk that would make even Gendo Ikari flinch.

"_So,_" he began, his voice dripping with smugness, "you want to play then, do you?" His smirk widened a tad, "Well it just so happens I'm now in a very playful mood, my friend."

He slowly extending his hand, and beckoned the Angel, "I'm in such a good mood, I'll even let you make the first move."

The Angel didn't really understand what the opposition was saying, but it did take the opening when it saw it. It swung its arm to strike the guarded Saiyan prince.

Vegeta grinned as the forth angel swung its arm toward him, only to have it freeze in mid-swing. The limb trembled as it attempted to break free of whatever it was that had stopped it. It was in fact Vegeta's own natural battle aura that he was in the process of powering up and had been used intentionally to snare the Angel.

It swung the other, only for it to be caught in the same fate.

"I think it's time we turn the stakes up here." Vegeta said with a grin as his body and the rippling energy around him exploded into a blaze of golden light.

Like a star hovering in the air above Tokyo-3; Vegeta powered up to Super Saiyan. _'This is overkill' _thought the Saiyan, '_but then, why have power if you don't _use it.'

-Ω-

Meanwhile, in NERV headquarters

"That's... incredible." Misato gasped, staring at the blazing figure on screen who had now perfectly and effortlessly restrained the angel.

"Energy output confirms it...A Super Saiyan. It's not as high as the combined one, but it's still almost off the scale." Maya informed as she read off her energy monitor, which was straining from overloading due to the output.

Shinji looked on from his seat in Unit-01's entry plug, observing the proceedings raptly.

"An adult? I couldn't even beat an _eight year-old_…" Shinji gasped as he looked into the smug face of Vegeta. There was something about his impassive confidence that he found he couldn't take his eyes from.

"It looks like he's going to try and beat the angel for us." Aoba commented hopefully as all present in the command centre watched the screen in awe.

-Ω-

"_Come on,_" Vegeta began patronisingly to his immobilised opponent, "I'm right here. Or are you having a bit of trouble there, my friend?" He grinned before continuing, "I'll tell you what; why don't you let me help you out there!" He shouted with a laugh as he twisted his body round and grasped both gargantuan tentacles in each hand (well, grabbing _part of them_ anyway). Using his Super Saiyan might he pulled forward and literally flipped the unlucky angel over his head and forward, slamming it's great mass flat into a nearby cliff face.

-Ω-

"Not possible…" Misato whispered in shock, having just watched the tiny form perform the biggest body slam in history.

-Ω-

"I must say, it's been a joy playing with you today…" Vegeta began, turning side wards and extending his palm flat at the fallen angel. His aura burst into view once more, waves of power radiating from his glowing body.

-Ω-

"What's going on?" Misato demanded as the ground shook slightly, the lights flickering.

"The Saiyan's energy output is rising exponentially!" Maya shouted.

-Ω-

"I'm afraid it's about time I put you to bed." Vegeta said, smirking darkly as his energy focused in on one point in his hand. He felt his power shunt through him as he roared,

**"BIG BANG ATTACK!"**

These would be the last words the angel would ever hear (assuming it _could_ hear, of course) as a giant ball of flaming golden energy erupted from the Saiyan's palm and crashed head on into the Angel's A.T. Field. The octagonal barrier visibly shattered like a brick through a thin pane of glass, totally overwhelmed by the force of the blast.

It carried straight through and hit the core dead on. The energy blast expanded over the Angel's entire body and exploded in a blaze of light brighter than the sun, illuminating the skies for miles around. There was a flash of light as the explosion let out one last shunt of power, a giant mushroom cloud of smoke and debris was hurled miles into the sky as the attack finished its job.

It was over...

-Ω-

"By god…" Commander Fuyutski breathed out, his tone somewhere between utter shock, complete awe and full on horror as he beheld the force of the unknown Saiyan.

"S-Status of the Angel?" Misato managed to stammer out once she found her voice.

"As of yet, no energy readings from the epicentre of the blast." Aoba explained, the same shock still evident in his voice.

All waited for the smoke to clear on the screen in anticipation, and when it did, it shocked the NERV staff even more if that were possible.

"_Nothing?_" whispered Misato almost in fear as she stared at the large circular blast crater in the side of the mountain. There wasn't a sign of the Angel on screen.

"Th-there's nothing ma'am" Maya began, trying to keep her voice level as she continued, "Not a limb, not a piece of its body. No matter whatsoever is detected at ground zero. It's as if the Angel were completely..." She trailed off, shaking her head to find the right word.

"…_Vaporised._" Fuyutski finished quietly, no emotion in his voice.

"By _god,_" Dr Akagi began, a tone of shock and clear horror evident in her voice, "Just what kind of power are we dealing with here?" She got no response. The only sound over the stunned silence was the blinking of the Magi status indicator confirming the Angel's destruction…

-Ω-

The Saiyan Prince regarded the empty space where the Angel had once been. A satisfied smirk spread across his face, "Hmph, _Bye-bye_…"

Without another word, he turned about and shot off back towards his camp, his aura changing from gold to blue as he powered down.

Vegeta had not been impressed.

As far as the prince was concerned, the Angels were nothing more than overgrown insects waiting to be crushed under his boot.

It would be a dirty job, but that didn't mean he wouldn't allow himself to enjoy it immensely.

And God help anyone who chose to stand in his path...

-Ω-

_To be continued._

[A/N] I bid thee hello, and sorry about the length this one took. Turns out these early chapters require far more work than I first anticipated. Regardless, old readers, drop in a re-review if you like the new version better or worse. And I assure you that I'll try and get the next little instalment out as soon as I can.

Coming up... Gendo's actions towards young Trunks force Vegeta to pay him a friendly visit, as he decides to give the so-called bastard king a lesson as to just who's making the rules now...

See you in Chapter 6: Conflict


	6. Chapter 6: Conflict

[A/N] Ahh and here we are again. Next chapter, and thankfully not as long as the last, although redoing the last one did sort of double it in length, I'll just have to see. Ahh Gendo-bashing, is there a more fun thing? Yes; and it's called Gendo-beating. The difference? I think It'll be well spelled out in this chapter.

**Eva Possibilities and Fusion Pandemonium**

**Chapter 6: Conflict**

"It is simply not acceptable, Ikari!" The committee member to Gendo's left shouted.

"Recent events have simply gone too far off from our projected scenario at this point; where all actions are simply too pivotal to the outcome of the project to allow any room for alteration." chimed in another member, a small man with a beaked nose who was sitting over a yellow illuminated square.

"It is stated in the scrolls that all of the angels would be defeated primarily by either Eva or NERV, and yet in this case the fourth was defeated by no action of our own whatsoever. And yet you claim to have used NERV effectively to push our cause, Ikari." Chairman Keel himself stated.

Gendo remained totally calm and unshaken, speaking in a totally level and cordial tone, "I'm afraid I fail to see any problem with the situation, gentlemen. The Angel was defeated; Eva Unit-01 is now repaired; and we have lost virtually no resources as a result of the last battle, and of course, the Human Instrumentality project is still on schedule. All that remains in question is NERV gaining control of the unstable elements for use in its own cause. And I can assure you, gentlemen that these unpredictable elements will soon be taken care of. The project will continue as planned."

"Are you trying to say you can gain control of these creatures and work them to our own cause?" enquired one member critically.

"But of course. It is all a matter of persuasion." stated Gendo.

"Very well, I shall consider this matter under your control Ikari. But remember, we shall not accept failure..." said Lorenz in his usual thinly veiled threatening voice, the entire committee disappearing around Gendo.

Gendo remained silent for a moment as countless numbers of different scenarios shot through his head before standing up and leaving silently…

-Ω-

"What did the old men have to say?" Fuyutski asked as the commander joined him on the elevator.

Gendo scoffed, "Needless to say, the old fools weren't too happy with this little diversion in their precious scenario."

"I doubted they would be, especially since the project has been diverted at such an early stage."

"Has Doctor Akagi devised a method of controlling their power yet?" Gendo enquired.

The sub-commander shook his head, "No, she says that at their level of power, it would take something far, far more powerful than even Eva units 00, 01 and 02 combined in order to hold just one of them even temporarily." Fuyutski explained, "Nor can we possibly risk using biological weaponry. Dr Akagi states that their DNA may be so similar to our own that anything we use would more than likely end up killing us also."

"_Indeed?_ In that case we'll just have to resort to a different form of persuasion." Said Gendo as the elevator came to a halt, the supreme commander walking off in the direction of Ritsuko's office.

He had his own idea to test. Physical and biological approaches may be useless, but that didn't rule out one remaining option…

-Ω-

A hundred meters over the blast crater created by Vegeta's little attack on the angel, the Saiyan prince and his son hovered, silently watching the proceedings going on below them, observing as numerous scientific personnel went about their task of examining the combat area.

"Why are they so interested in some big hole in the ground, Dad?" asked Trunks, his arms folded and an eyebrow quirked upwards.

"The fools in this world are easily amused." Vegeta replied, "Saiyan powers are something they could never comprehend, and yet they struggle to anyway."

"Why don't we just explain it to them?" enquired the boy.

A small grin appeared on Vegeta's face. "And miss the chance to watch the insects squirm or scatter? Now where's the fun in that, son?"

"Gotcha." Replied Trunks with a smile as he watched the forms of Misato and Maya walking about the crater, "Hey, I remember them!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at the Captain and Lieutenant.

The prince glanced at his son, "Hmm?"

"They were in that prison place when I woke up," explained Trunks.

"Ah, yes, right before you blasted them." Vegeta added.

"Heh Heh, that's the ones." Trunks added with a laugh and then suddenly he began to lower himself downwards.

Vegeta glanced down at his descending son, "What are you doing?" asked the prince irritably.

Trunks stopped to look up at his father with a grin, "To see if they squirm or scatter." Suddenly his body burst into Super Saiyan form. "Oh this is gonna be _fun_..." He said, grinning as he dropped down faster.

"Hmm, I'm not sure if he's got the right attitude, or not…" commented Vegeta with a raised eyebrow.

Deciding there was no more to see here, the prince turned about and flew back towards their makeshift home away from home, leaving his son to have his fun.

-Ω-

"Nothing, Maya?" asked Misato of the young lieutenant, who was reading some data off her clipboard whilst crouching down to run her hand through the dust on the ground.

She shook her head, "Nothing… The blast totally encompassed the angel's body and blasted it apart at the sub-atomic level." Explained Maya, raising her hand up to let all that remained of the angel, a pile of dust, to slip through her fingers.

"Damn, I don't know whether to be joyously happy or damn frustrated by the outcome of that battle." said Misato with a frown as she folded her arms.

"Ma'am?"

"Well we've had two battles with two angels, and both have ended up in total disintegration of the targets. We're no further toward understanding the enemy than we were five years ago," she paused and let out a sigh, ", but at least I'm glad there weren't any casualties this time round. Lucky there wasn't anyone stupid enough to come out of their shelters for an up close and personal view of the action."

She went silent for a moment before speaking again, as she remembered the one thing she was truly grateful to the Saiyan for, "And at least Shinji managed to escape the torture of being thrust into combat with a second hostile enemy…"

Maya cocked her head, "'Second hostile enemy'? Then you believe Shinji about the Saiyans? About them not being a threat that is?"

"I'll admit this: the first time round we really should have acted with a bit more tact than just grabbing one of them and locking him in a cell and then going for the whole _imposing interrogation_ tact."

"I… Guess you're right. At least that other one didn't seem to have as much of a temper." Commented Maya, reflecting on her meeting with Goten.

"The fact remains, though we've seen the power of an adult Saiyan, we don't even know if it was his _full_ power, "The Captain paused for a second, "And also… We have no idea of the capabilities of the fourth one, 'Goku'. For all we know, he could be the weakest or by far the strongest…Argh! This whole lack of information deal really pisses me off!" Misato moaned, rubbing her sinuses as she tried to release some of her stress.

Maya's nervous eyes glanced away, as if feeling scolded. The Captain caught the look, "Sorry about that, Maya… Here, why don't you finish off collecting some of the more 'solid samples' and I'll go and fetch us some coffee?" Said the Captain, smiling reassuringly.

"Sounds good." Maya replied with a smile, returning to her duties as the Captain patted her once on the shoulder and headed off towards the nearby mobile headquarters unit.

Maya went back to work, utterly unaware of the shadow being cast by the form leaning in to look over her shoulder, also unaware of the golden aura gently pulsing around said form.

Trunks eyed the ground curiously, regarding the small rock Maya held in a pair of tweezers. _'What's so great about some dumb hole in the ground and a load of rocks? These guys must really have a lot of time on their hands'_ contemplated Trunks as Maya's hand reached behind her and began padding about on the ground blindly.

"Sample case…" She muttered, reaching out further.

"Here you go." Said Trunks nonchalantly as he bent down and placed the small box in her hand.

"Thanks," Maya said absently as she placed the rock in the small box.

"Anything good?" Trunks asked curiously as he looked over her shoulder.

Maya's eyes flicked to him and back to her tweezers, "Maybe, although it's probably just som-" She froze in mid-syllable as her brain finally caught up with her.

She froze dead for a whole minute and then turned about, _very_ slowly.

A tiny gasp escaped her as brown and emerald eyes met.

She dared to look him up and down. As she did so her mind flashed unbidden back to the events in the NERV detention cell, of coming within feet of being utterly atomized, images of a tiny child beating an EVA into the ground forming. .

A small 'eep!' being the only sound her mind could vocalize. She was the epiphany of the deer caught in the headlights.

"Hey there," Trunks began, a smile on his face, "remember me?"

The next few seconds consisted entirely of events relating to a certain young female NERV lieutenant sliding to her feet, turning about extremely slowly, and then bolting off as fast as she could towards the command vehicle whilst and a certain little Super Saiyan slipped onto his back after losing due to the fact he'd suddenly started laughing so hard he was almost crying.

"That was _classic_!" Trunks gasped, still laughing and trying to catch his breath.

"Huh?" Maya mumbled as she skidded to a halt when the eruption of laughter from behind her reached her ears.

Pausing in her dash for safety, she turned to see the source of the loud and incessant laughing.

Her mind worked furiously to work out just what the hell she should be doing right now. The logical part of her mind was screaming at her to get to safety, but oddly the only thing that she seemed able to do was screw her face up into a frown.

Despite her better judgment, she found herself turning about with a scowl and walking back toward the small boy, who seemed to find her little burst of 'fear-for-life' terror overly hilarious.

He had just pulled a prank on her!

"Hey!" She barked down at the ultra-powerful little pack of mischief, who was only now managing to regain some composure.

"Y-You should have seen the look on your face, it was _priceless_!" exclaimed Trunks to the frustrated lieutenant.

She wasn't sure what was worse: Being attacked by him, or just being ridiculed by him.

"This is a military operation, damn it! You can't just come dropping in and playing pranks like there will be no repercussions!" She scolded, hoping her being the mature woman she was could easily appeal to a child's senses.

She was wrong.

"_Repercussions_?" echoed Trunks with a note of amusement as he sat back up, "What are you gonna do?" He asked her, the Lieutenant's scowl melting as she remembered just what she was trying to get the high ground on.

She backed up step by step slowly as Trunks stood up and began stalking slowly towards her "You gonna send another weak little robot after me?" He asked, hovering up to meet her face to face as he continued "_Oh_, wait, I have a better idea!" he said sardonically, "Why don't you just try locking me up again?" He asked with a snarl as his aura burst back into view, startling the technician in to staggering back a few steps. A small ball of yellow energy began to form in the boy's hand.

"I… Ah…" Maya stammered, eyes locked on the sphere of energy as she trembling slightly, convinced she now balancing on the precipice between life and being blasted into oblivion.

"_Exactly._" Spat the Saiyan as he powered down, the blast in his palm shimmered out of existence as he descended back to the ground.

His point has been made.

"So that's it, is it?" asked Maya of the boy who had already turned away and was about to go for a wander.

He paused, frowning "What?"

"There's nothing we can do to stop you, so we just let you do as you please?" She demanded in both an upset an angry tone.

Trunks shrugged, "Yup, that's about the size of it, " he paused again as a small grin spread over his face, "but do try and look surprised every time you try and then fail miserably, it's much more fun that way." He finished with a boyish grin and then continued to walk off, "Nice meeting you again, Lieutenant Ibuki!"

She sighed, "Y-yeah I suppose…_Wait!_" she snapped as his words clicked in her head, "How the hell do you know who _I_ am?" She enquired after the boy, realizing her nametag was still obscured by her overcoat.

He shrugged again, "Oh, that's simple, I hacked into the Magi and downloaded you're personnel file."

Maya nodded, "I see, so you hacked the- WHAT!" She shouted incredulously, gaping both in shock and also feeling somewhat violated and annoyed that the child now knew a heck of a lot more about her than she knew about him.

"Besides, I…" Trunks began, but was cut off by a noise from above, both pair of eyes glancing up as a familiar voice called out:

"Incoming!" shouted Goten as he descended from above and landed near Trunks.

"Oh, hey Goten. What's up?" Trunks asked curiously.

_'Oh __great,__ now there's two of them.'_ cursed Maya silently

"My daddy says that dinner's ready. You have to come back before it gets cold, but we can go out and play later." Goten explained innocently, utterly ignorant of the fact that he'd just shattered Trunks' serious atmosphere.

"But Goten, _come on_…" Trunks groaned.

"Nuh uh, you gotta go now. Our dads have already left to go searching again." Goten said, doing his best to be commanding in his own little way.

Trunks gritted his teeth, "_Fine…._this was getting boring anyways." He said with a grumble before leaping into the air and, with a burst of blue flame, headed for home.

Goten, who had returned from having dinner in order to deliver the message, now took it upon himself to have a gander around, instead of simply returning as he probably should have.

"Hi." said Goten brightly to Maya as he walked past her, heading straight for the command vehicle with an air of childlike curiosity.

"H-Hi." She stammered in response, though relief in her voice was clear.

The silence was suddenly broken a moment later when her cell phone rang, she answered it as she bent over to pick up the sample case.

It was Commander Ikari.

The conversation she held in a hushed tone over the next moment or so had her raising several objections and worried looks as she described her current situation and how it may affect the operation the commander had just announced.

She knew she had no voice in the matter, she was merely being kept informed as it was applicable to her current situation.

She regarded her phone for a moment after it had disconnected, wishing she simply hadn't been told. She slipped it numbly into her pocket and followed on after the Saiyan towards the command vehicle also.

"Wow, this is a really big hole!" Goten shouted, smiling at the echo of his own voice as he turned all the way around.

"You're not kidding." Maya began as she walked up beside the now stationary Saiyan, "It was quite the explosion. It was so intense it went off our scale in terms of sheer force released. It totally destroyed the Angel and left absolutely nothing. And all this was caused by-"Maya was about to give a brief description of Vegeta before Goten intervened, shocking her into a blaze of worry as he described him in a different way.

"-I know, Trunks' Dad did it!" Goten commented loudly.

Maya's face froze as she realized that this little tidbit warranted a hellish warning to the Commander as she now had a _seriously_ good reason to object to his little operation, or more to the point, the _target_ of the operation.

She pulled out her cell phone and then realized things really were going bad to worse:

Dead battery.

She was about to run to Captain Katsuragi for assistance, but as she had been ordered not to do anything to alert any of the Saiyan's suspicions, and with Goten hopping about and effectively monitoring her every move, she realized she had no choice but to let things take shape and let them happen as they would for now.

Maya Ibuki would later realize that her decision to hold back information was somewhat of a bad one… especially for one certain high ranking NERV official.

-Ω-

The four shadowy figures moved through the grass like snakes, their eyes trained on their target.

Each aimed their shell launchers at the ground near the target in a full circle, and then waited for their opportunity…

-Ω-

Trunks had just finished what he considered a splendid meal, and that before he took his usually after-dinner nap, that he'd take a little walk to get some air and settle his somewhat bloated gut.

He took several steps outside his Capsule House, and then stopped.

He closed his eyes and breathed a content sigh, reaching his arms into a long stretch, yawning loudly, the sound of the yawn masking that of several cylindrical objects rolling to a stop abot him. Each released a hiss of invisible gas about the small child.

The young Saiyan didn't even have time to register something was up as, after several deep calm breaths, his small body flopped limply over onto the ground, the concentrated anesthetic gas taking full advantage of the human side of his anatomy, rendering him completely unconscious.

Seconds later, the four forms clad in black-ops gear melted out of the grass and closed in on the boy.

One swiftly collected their target under one arm whilst another pulled out another small gas contained, this one equipped with a facemask, the picking him up swiftly under one arm, another pulling out a small gas canister with facemask, which he swiftly attached to the boy in order to maintain the child's dormant state until they reached NERV.

As quickly and silently as they came, they retreated to their nearby 4x4 and drove off.

Mission accomplished.

Gendo Ikari would later look back on this course of action as, without mincing words, one of the out-and-out dumbest things he'd ever done, right up there with letting Yui be the test pilot for Unit-01.

-Ω-

Not long afterwards, in the forbidden depths of Terminal Dogma.

"Status?" Gendo enquired as he paced into the mostly empty room. It was perfectly round, containing only himself, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi and, in the centre, an LCL tube containing the unconscious form of Trunks.

"The anesthetic in the LCL is keeping him under safely, we should have all the tests and genetic analysis completed within the next two hours." The doctor explained.

"Very well, but just get them done soon, we cannot keep him here for long. Just get them done and have him returned as soon as you are finished," ordered Gendo in his usual cold manner before turning about and leaving the room, heading for the warm and cozy confines of his office.

-Ω-

Now many would think him to be an arrogant idiot from first impressions, but anyone who actually knew anything at all about him would be aware that he was anything but, and was in most aspects a tactical genius. That is why, as Vegeta spun in for a landing, and his eyes traced the area, he immediately registered that _something_ was amiss.

He settled down slowly, eyes flicking about the locale quickly.

"Trunks?" He asked, leaning into the capsule house to give it a glance over. He did the same in the other and, realizing he wasn't there either, chose to work on his previous instincts as his mind worked, _'He's not with Kakarott or his brat. I sensed him approach here, I would have sensed him leave if he flew away, he had no real reason to walk off, unless of course he wanted to stretch his leg-'_ The Saiyan prince's mind froze mid-thought as his eyes travelled to the ground.

Trunks' tracks were unmistakable, and so was the fact that others had obviously been there, several others, much larger in size by the looks of the indentaions.

His eyes traced from where they came in the distance and back to the house door where they lead.

He focused on the slight indentation on the ground and reached to examine the smooth print in the earth, as if someone had laid down there. A pair of Trunks' prints were at the base of the shape.

He then noticed that many of the larger footprints had gathered about this spot before turning back and going back the way they came. He pushed himself off the ground and levitated up above the long grass, his gaze trained on a pair tire tracks which had cut their way through the grass from the main road and then back again.

Someone else had been there, that much was glaringly obvious, but it was as he lowered himself to the floor and his foot made contact with something hidden in the longer grass, which he nudged out into full view and inspected closely, that he realized the full truth as to what was going on.

Vegeta spun about and headed back into the capsule house, a scowl etched onto his face. He retrieved his wife's laptop and cell phone and kicked aside the object which had confirmed his suspicions, an object which was in violation of one of the first rules of black-ops:

If you're going to use gas shells to secretly knock out and kidnap someone, then for god's sake, don't put your organization's _logo_ on the side of them.

Nothing good can come from it, as the following events will prove.

He linked up his cell and the laptop and reinitiated the link into the Magi, fully aware of that they would know he was hacking into their system, but to be perfectly honest, even on the best of days he wouldn't really give a damn.

And this was not what he would describe as one of his best of days..

'connection established' came the words he was waiting for impatiently. He quickly punched in a few commands to secretly disable their detection systems, and then entered a few more, commanding the machine to search, access and download any and all high level orders or transmissions relating to his son.

The Magi didn't even know what hit it.

The data file was virtually (in both senses of the term) ripped from the Magi's database, despite its best attempts to resist, and blinked up on screen.

It was a recent order from Commander Ikari, demanding the acquisition of a very specific 'specimen'.

Yet again, a sequence of events occurred in quick succession, and yet they somehow seemed to take place in slow motion and in disturbing silence. The events were as follows:

Eyes tracing across a screen.

A deepening frown.

A Glaring of teeth.

A personnel file blinking up on screen.

A layout of NERV headquarters from the outside was called up.

A certain someone's office area being highlighted.

A Saiyan prince stood up.

His rage bubbled over and finally,

A Loss of control…

Any patience the Saiyan Prince had left (if he had any in the first place, that is) exploded in an enraged golden blaze of power as his body shunted up to Super Saiyan with such force the very earth seemed to tremble in fear from his anger. The prince's body crackled with blue energy from the tips of his feet to the now jagged hair of his Super Saiyan 2 form.

"Well isn't that _cute?_" He snarled, "The commander wants to play **WAR**!" he turned about and glared at the city below him, "Well I'm _game_…" said the prince darkly, before shooting off over the skies of Tokyo-3 with blinding speed.

Someone was in for it.

His eyes traced the cityscape below, recalling the map in his head.

He turned downwards towards the train station, curving sharply up and straight into the tunnel leading into the Geofront, his aura sending the cars parked in the street spinning into the air like a giant whip.

The journey that normally took twenty minutes by train blinded by in seconds as the Ascended Saiyan broke free into the vast space of the Geofront.

He didn't pause to admire the scenery as he altered his course down towards the familiar pyramid-shaped structure of NERV central.

He came to a halt in mid-air, hovering over the structure like a malevolent sword of Damocles.

His eyes trained in on a windowed section of the building.

He felt his rage begin to mix with his usual regal attitude, forming that deadly combination that had felled so many inferior species in his past. He was further amused that, because he had disabled their detection systems, they had no idea what now hung silently in the air above their heads.

He raised his palm…

-Ω-

"What is it?" enquired Gendo in his usual polite way of answering the phone.

"It's the hacker, sir. He's breached our systems again! He's accessed several high level security files and we've lost over a third of our security monitoring systems," sounded the uneasy voice of Lieutenant Hyuuga from down the phone.

The commander went into contemplative silence for about ten seconds before answering.

"I'm on my way." He responded simply, standing up.

"Should I inform Doctor Akagi, We can't seem to reach her?" enquired the lieutenant.

"No, Doctor Akagi is performing a highly sensitive experiment at this time. Attempt to reach lieutenant Ibuki." ordered the commander.

"Sir." The lieutenant said in confirmation as the line went dead

Gendo was still for a moment, and then frowned suddenly in confusion as his shadow seemed to turn sideways and stretch across his office.

He glanced over his shoulder in bewilderment, and was just in time to see the oval of brilliant-yellow energy spinning through the air towards him.

Fear flashed over his features, and he jumped clear over his desk and dived forwards, just as the ball of energy struck and practically carved the back half of his office off, blasting it into fragments in a brilliant explosion of energy.

The shockwave of the blast sent the commander flying further forwards, skidding across the floor of his office and slamming face-first into the cold surface, the upper-right half of his jacket being burned clear off by the explosion.

As if on an afterthought, the commander's glasses landed with a clatter on the floor nearby as he rolled to a stop.

There was a large gash visible on his partly burned shoulder and back, and also a rather nasty one down his cheek on the same of his face.

Gendo staggered around onto his back and did his best to pull up into a sitting position.

He froze in a half-standing position as a gentle sound became audible over the falling rubble and crackling flame:

Footsteps… And something else too: a strange sound; like water rushing from within the smoke the concealed the devastation of his office.

He was not alone.

The commander's eyes widened as a familiar face emerged from within the thick smoke, his body surrounded by a familiar golden flame that crackled with blue bolts of energy.

He slowly, silently, began to advance on the commander, his aura tearing the image of the tree of life from the floor of his office. His white boot stepped down onto Gendo's tinted glasses, crushing them into dust.

There was nothing Gendo could do or say (besides, of course, contemplate that he may have made a slight error in judgment) other than sit there crouched in the remnants of his office as the glowing figure approached.

Vegeta stopped, looked down at the man, and then did the one thing that showed just how much trouble the commander was in:

He smiled.

"_So_," He began, that chilling smile unmoving, "You must be _Gendo_…" his smile twisted into a smirk, "…Hello"

Gendo moved to push himself up when Vegeta reached suddenly down and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, tossing him effortlessly up into the air in front of him. His other hand swung about and punched him out of the air, sending him flying backwards and smashing flat into his office door with a sickening _crack_ of breaking ribs as the prince struck the man with a mere billionth of his power.

He didn't even have time to slide to the floor as the Saiyan seemed to disappear then reappear instantly in front of him, slamming him back into the door, his shoulder being smashed free of its socked with another crack or bones. He held the commander up like a doll, bringing him face-to-face and looking him straight in the eye, observing the officer's attempts to hold back grimaces of pain.

"How strange, all this, here you are, sitting on top of the world, an entire empire sitting beneath you, but when it comes down to it, "he paused to grip his shirt tighter, the fabric starting to tear, "you're _nothing_!" he finished with a shout, turning about and tossing the commander back into the centre of the room like a discarded ragdoll. There was another cringing crack as something else broke on impact as Gendo rolled onto his back, clutching his chest in agony.

The commander gritted his teeth and fought to speak out as Vegeta began walking back up to him, "Your son is- AARRGHH!" he was cut off as Vegeta silenced him by pressing his boot down on the commander's damaged ribs and leaned forwards, applying pressure.

"-_Yes_…" began the prince, leaning down into the commander's face, "Let's talk about my son, shall we?" he asked, a small, dark smile on his face.

Gendo said nothing for a second longer than he should and Vegeta pushed his boot down slightly harder. The commander cried out in pain, Vegeta's voice rising above it, "Now you can _tell me_ where my son is, or I'll just **blast** this place apart until I find him, I hope that's understood!"

Gendo coughed, gasping to speak, "That threat is meaningless, you would risk the c-child's safety also." remarked the commander with great difficulty.

The Saiyan smirked, "Oh no. You see, I'll just use enough power to destroy everything _but_ him, you'd be surprised just how much punishment even an unconscious Saiyan can take. True, I might kill you anyway, but at least this way you might have a chance."

A cordial smile spread across Vegeta's face, "How's about this, since I'm such a reasonable sort of guy and all, I'll give you 'till the count of five to mull it over." He said, a small grin creasing over his features as he raised a single hand and aimed it pointblank into Gendo Ikari's face.

"One…" He began, a slight fizzing of energy noticeable over the surface of his palm

"…" Gendo stared into his eyes, deathly silent, almost defiant, trying to read the Saiyan, looking for signs of a bluff.

"…_two…_" A swirl of yellow energy began to gather.

"…" Gendo's stare deepened as Vegeta's eyes met his own, piercing pools of fiery green showing nothing but pure intent.

His smirk widened, "…_three_…" The swirl expanded suddenly into a small shimmering orb of light.

"…" Vegeta's eyes half sparkled as Gendo stared into them, he was serious, Gendo realized, not a spark of hesitation lay behind that stare, they were the eyes of someone who was well beyond the point of being prepared to kill. They were the eyes of a warrior.

"…_four_…" The sphere began to hum loudly as it grew in intensity, illuminating the room about them, the discarded rubble beginning to shake and hover up into the air.

The Saiyan's smirk twitched into a full on smile, "...and that's five…goodbye… _Supreme Commander._"

"V-very well." gasped the commander quickly.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you." Asked the prince in a pretentious tone, grabbing the commander by the shirt and pulling him closer, using his other hand to cup his ear to listend with mock difficulty

Gendo gritted his teeth, "I said I shall have your son returned to you immediately." He said, reaching with his uninjured arm into his pocket and pulling free his cell phone. Vegeta allowed him to make the call as he held the commander up in his grasp.

A moment later he ended the call and dropped the cell to the floor, he returned his defiant gaze to the Saiyan, "He is being held in terminal Dogma, one kilometer below us. D-Doctor Akagi will meet you outside with the child" Gendo groaned, his eyes clearing as he glared at the prince, "Now _leave_!" he commanded, using what little strength he had remaining.

Vegeta smiled warmly, "With pleasure…" he said, releasing the commander and, as he fell, the Saiyan backhanded him as if on an afterthought out of the air with his left hand, sending the battered officer crashing into another wall.

Multiple broken ribs, internal bleeding, a dislocated shoulder and now unconscious; the so-called 'Bastard King' had been well and truly dethroned…

At that, Vegeta turned about, walking out of what remained of the Supreme Commander's office, smirking all the way…

-Ω-

Ritsuko held the unconscious Trunks in her arms as she approached the doorway to the commander's office.

Multiple armed agents had formed a cordon at the edge of the waiting area outside the commander's office. A line of blast shields was set up to defend them. Automatic weapons were all trained in on the single solitary form lounging back in the secretary's chair whilst reading a local affairs magazine. There were countless bullet holes in the wall surrounding him, as if every shot had somehow curved away from the black-haired alien just prior to impact.

She knew there would be a serious backlash from this, but did the commander ever listen to her opinions?

The answer was no.

She crossed the line of shields and froze dead as the Saiyan's gaze flicked to her out the corner of his eye and back again. The doctor took a few more steps forward and stopped half-way between the agents and the intruder.

Vegeta calmly set his reading material down and stood up, turning to approach the doctor. Mechanical clicks filled the air as the agents cocked their weapons.

It was a comfort thing.

It made them feel slightly less like the ants in front of the kid with the magnifying glass.

Vegeta regarded his son and took him from the doctor's outstretched hands. She was rigid and, despite her composure, Vegeta could both see and smell the barely contained fear coming from her.

It was a refreshing smell.

He looked at his son carefully, "If I find you've done _anything_ to him…" Vegeta stated, not really needing to finish his threat.

"He's fine, we didn't _do_ anything to him, he should be conscious in about ten minutes. We only kept him under so we could run a few basic medical scans, nothing more." Explained the doctor tersely

The Saiyan Prince scoffed as he turned about and aimed his hand at a section of the wall.

He didn't look back as he spoke, a note of terrifying certainty in his voice, "Try anything even close to this again, _doctor,_ and I will not hesitate to turn you, this facility and everyone in it into a smoking pile of cinders. You got off lightly today, of that I assure you. Entire worlds have been felled by me for far less than what you dared do today. Be thankful I was in such a good mood."

"_Oh_, and one more thing…" He began, a note of amusement in his voice.

"What?"

"You might want to duck for cover…"**  
**

"Everyone! Get away from the wall!" She shouted as a burst of energy shot from the Saiyan's palm and struck the wall, blasting it into non-existence; leaving in it's place an open view of the Geo-front.

Vegeta walked to the edge and began to hover in mid air as he turned round once more, his dark hair fluttering in the breeze in the setting sun as he finished his business "I guess this will be all for now. But I believe your precious commander could do with a small amount of attention" Vegeta laughed as his body erupted in a burning blue aura as he shot off across the geo-front carrying his son.

Ritsuko's mind took a second to process what the Saiyan had meant as she processed the facts of how the intruder was right outside Gendo's office and also the fact of that small tremor like rumble she heard from the depths of Terminal Dogma. She ran straight into the office of the Commander and screeched to a halt as her eyes moved over the hell before her; the back half being completely gouged off the side of headquarters, and the commander looking in about as fit a state as the office…

Meanwhile at the crater that was the effective grave of the Fourth Angel

"So that's it huh?" Misato asked the small shape of Goten who was now sitting cross-legged and drinking some hot-chocolate from a NERV mug, who had just recently been joined by his father, both ignoring Vegeta's sudden outburst as just letting off steam.

"So you need to beat the Angels just as much as we do then?" Maya offered.

"I guess that's right" Goku said as he munched down on some off Misato's home made ramen.

"Talk about one big stupid misunderstanding" Misato commented from her chair in front of a nearby console.

"Well I can't say I really blame you for being a bit suspicious. I mean, when something like this lands in your lap right in the middle of a war with unknown enemies, everything can be a bad situation" said Goku as he mouthed down more of Misato's home cooking, ignoring the occasional worried glances from Maya as he did so.

"But I suppose If we pool our resources we might both just have a half-decent chance of getting through all this" Misato said to Goku before continuing, "These clashes we keep having aren't exactly helpful… How's the food by the way?" She finished offhandedly

"Mmm… Itsh great. Don't know what you were talking about Maya-aaa" Goku extending the end of her name as suddenly his stomach churned painfully in an unhealthy sounding way, his hand moving to it. The impossible had happened… After years of pigging out on gargantuan feasts and eating so many unmentionables… Goku's stomach had been conquered…

"In-di-ges-tion?" he asked himself out loud as if the word were a sheer impossibility.

"Don't say I didn't warn you" Maya mumbled from behind her coffee mug.

"Ohh, don't be silly, I bet you just can't handle spicy food or something" Misato commented waving off any accusation, not quite realising just who she was talking about here.

"Lucky I already ate" Goten commented as he downed the rest of his chocolate.

"oohh" Goku moaned, clenching his stomach; this was a new kind of pain which he didn't know could've possibly existed.

"So, Goku… What I need to know is, can we count on you if there's another angel attack?" Misato asked seriously to the Saiyan warrior.

"ohh" Goku moaned again.

"Umm, Goku?"

"It hurts…"

"GOKU?" Misato shouted

"Yeah, yeah you can count on us!" Goku started, pulling himself together, "Always ready to save the day! 'Right Goten?"

"YO!" Goten said triumphantly raising his fist.

"Well, now that's out of the way… We really gotta go" Goku started as he stood up, Goten following behind as he mumbled under his voice "gotta take a couple of dozed indigestion tablets".

"W-well, I g-guess we'll be in contact!" Misato called after as both father and son took off into the red sky, "well, it looks like we may just have a steady fall back now"

"Hopefully… Captain what was it he was saying earlier? Did he say something about the other one?" Maya asked curiously having stepped out to get drinks for everyone and only caught part of the conversation.

"What? Oh yes, they just said something about the father of the other one seeming pissed off and flying off somewhere, why?" Misato asked, cocking her head as a look of partial dread crossed the young lieutenant's face.

"Ummm… Ma'am… I think there's something you should know" Maya said uneasily, her self confidence never being much in these situations. She explained, Misato's face sliding into an _extremely _deep frown as she finished, the lavender haired woman standing up and pushing straight past the lieutenant, who was now gripping her clipboard nervously, and grabbed her cell phone from the pocket of her jacket in order to punch in the number for her old college friend and give her one hell of a verbal piece of her mind. Unaware that however she was going to find out, that that situation had already been _resolved._

"Idiot…" Before Misato could speak this was the word that came out of Shinji's mouth as he lay on his side in his room, his back turned towards the door in the style to show that any conversation with him was going to be pretty one sided.

"What?" Misato breathed, unsure about as to who he was talking about, thought it soon became apparent.

"Just had an interesting visit from Goten and Trunks…" Shinji commented.

"So you… Know what happened" Misato said, her head falling.

"Yes, I know… How is he?" Shinji enquired, the he part being obvious

"He's… In a stable condition, he was seriously injured, broken ribs, dislocated shoulder…"Misato explained.

"oh" Was the one word answer Shinji intervened with.

"'oh'? Is that all you have to say!" Misato asked slightly loudly.

"What would you like me to say? The obvious? What doesn't need to be said?" Shinji commented back a bit too silently as he attempted to push his temper back into his shell like it had been before he had came here.

"Then what doesn't need to be said?" Misato asked quietly.

"_What!_ That my father unfortunately got what was obviously coming to him due to his total lack of sense! I mean COME ON! You captured the child on his own and he **blew away** half of headquarters, so now the idiot decides to _kidnap _him while his _father_ is around! The very same father who we just witnessed turn an _angel_ into dust with one hand! Just what _the hell_ did he _think_ was going to happen!" At this Misato had backed up a pace in sheer shock as Shinji had pulled himself to his feet mid shout, as he now had his fists clenched a bit too tightly at his sides and was panting for air.

"Your right Shinji… I guess that was obvious" Misato mumbled as she approached the boy and rested her hands softly on his heaving shoulders.

"…idiot" he said again, a single tear falling down from his eye as his thoughts cumulated in his head, his head falling forward into Misato's sholder as she rested an arm around him "idiot", he said one last time as she slipped him down onto his bed and watched him until he fell asleep.

"Yeah… And I can't even say I disagree with you there Shinji" She said quietly as she ran one hand through the sleeping teenager's hair before walking out and heading for her own room; slipping away into her own dreams quickly as fatigue quickly overcame her, at the same time, four Saiyan warriors also slipping into their slumber as Tokyo-3 fell silent for the night, all the sleeping forms unaware; in the middle of the ocean in the depths of the pacific, a black oval-shaped chrysalis began to pulse and glow… and expand.

an Yo Yo ma homies! Another chapter another chunk of EVA history messed with. I know this isn't exactly as long as some of the other chapters but I thought I got in what I wanted to say. And sorry if I seemed a little harsh on good old Gendo, I watched End of Eva and tried to pull some compassion, but more recently (last night) I kind of watched the battle with Bardiel/Eva-03 and sorry, I kind of wanted to teach him a mild lesson. Anyhoo ,sorry for any delay in this one (university stuff) and sorry for lack of angel-related action but, just in case you couldn't tell, the biggest, baddest positron cannon-diamond shaped thingy in anime history, Ramiel! Is about to make his emergence! Spelling trouble for both the NERV team and Z-fighters… All in the next chapter…


	7. Chapter 7: Balance of Power Part 1

[A/N] Okay, best apologise to you all. Between other fics, real life stuff and original works I'm writing, this ol' fic really has been sitting in a neglectful place. Needless to say, several loyal readers and more than a dozen tv troper's (yes it's been pointed out this fic has its own page there. That was a bizarre shock, trust me) have been prodding me lately to get off my lazy behind and get this one moving again. Let it never be said I don't yield to peer pressure and, despite popular belief, I did not delete the original 21 Chapters of this fic and have indeed still retained all of these in a single HTML file of which will be released back up on the site piece by piece rather than in a lump sum in the condition they were uploaded originally since the fic's origin which was back in 2004 and my technical skill was in it's infancy to say the least. All will be returned, it's time for this fic to be brought back once and for all, and I intend to make that happen…

It's been a long time coming, but let's hold off no more. Thus continues the much belated reupload of:

**Eva Possibilities and Fusion Pandemonium**

**Chapter 7: Balance of Power (Pt. 1)**

"Looks like todays the day…" sighed Misato as she stared tiredly out over the test area which would soon be occupied by the form of Evangelion Unit-00.

Her college friend who was now rapidly finishing some last minute preparations gave a distracted "Hmm?" in response, the only other sound in the room being the endless scratching of her pen on her clipboard.

But are you sure it's going to work this time? It's not going to look good knocking Rei back into the position she's just recovered from, you know."

Ritsuko didn't look up from her writing as she responded, "Come now, Misato, we're almost fully certain we've corrected all the errors in the synchronisation circuits, and based on the data collected from Shinji's synchronisation with Unit-01, I'm sure it'll all go fine this time round."

"I hope so. I just wish we had some kind of fully reliable safety mechanism in case something _does_ go wrong, I mean our fail-safes weren't exactly _reliable_ for Rei during the last incident," said Misato, her eyes still focused on the empty space in front of her.

"You had something in mind?" Ritsuko enquired, her pen pausing as she glanced up over the rim of her glasses, the suspicion dawning that her friend had been building up to this from the beginning of the conversation.

"_Well_, "she began, more than a little uncomfortably, "as a matter of fact… I do."

"_Well?_" prompted Ritsuko, twirling her pencil between her fingers as she regarded thecaptain.

"Well, here's the thing; I'm sure it'll work fine, but the thing is I doubt the commander will approve," Misato said.

"Oh?" Dr Akagi enquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Not after the incident with Trunks' father anyways…" Misato added.

"You're not serious are you?" demanded Ritsuko, scowling as it occurred to her exactly what Mistao had in mind.

"I'm not saying we ask _that_ one," sighed the captain, "but I know with just _one_ of the children there, just in case, we could use their power to catch the entry plug or restrain the EVA if necessary."

"You trust them?" asked the doctor after a moment's pause. It sounded more like an accusation than an actual question though.

"I think… I _do_. I mean, there was something about the other adult; Goku, he said we could rely on them if we needed their help and since Rei seems to already have formed a friendship with one of the children…" She trailed off, letting it hang in the air.

"You propose we let one of them into headquarters _again_? After what happened last time?"

"Ah, yes, you mean when they _weren't_ acting in self-defence."

"…" The doctor remained silent at that; it was, after all, a very good point.

Misato let out a drawn-out sigh and paused to massage the bridge of her nose with her hand, "Well, I guess I'll just have to run this one up with the commander. How is he by the way?" she asked, glancing at the scientist.

"You know him, never one to be kept from his duty. He's still injured, but he considered himself fit to return to his command duties," said Ritsuko as she finished her final preparation schedule.

"We can trust them," said Misato, her eyes narrowed in thought.

"_All_ of them?" She said, quirking her head round.

"It was a parent acting in defence of a child. You're telling me you wouldn't have done the exact same thing in his position?" Misato enquired back with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not much the parent type…" Ritsuko commented, averting her head away from the argument she was losing.

"I'll just take that as a yes." Misato retorted icily before turning and leaving the scientist by herself.

"It's for Rei sir," Misato said in a gentle tone, finishing off her proposal to the commander, who sat as normal behind his desk on the command bridge. Well, normal with the exception he was sporting a bandage on his cheek, a sling on his right arm, some bandages over his ribs under his uniform and a new pair of his trademark tinted glasses, "I just think it would be wise to take all the precautions we can to prevent an incident like last time reoccurring", she added, disliking the silence the commander had fallen into ever since she started talking.

Gendo said nothing for a whole minute, he had immediately been about to dismiss the idea until she had reminded of him that _his_ Rei could be injured yet again, and though he didn't want to admit it, he knew that the Saiyans had indeed been acting in self-defence at first. He made his decision:

"You propose letting all _four_ of these non-terrestrials into headquarters?" he asked in a tone that strongly implied that it would be unwise for her to answer in the positive.

"No, sir, just Goten and his father," clarified the captain in a level tone.

Gendo thought about this for a second. If she _had _contemplated letting Vegeta into headquarters willingly then he would've dismissed it immediately (though to be fair he wasn't entirely sure how he would actually stop Vegeta if he chose to enter and they were _unwilling_ to let him do so, but that was beside the point), but he knew Rei's opinion on Goten and, despite what others may think, he did listen to the opinions of others, he just rarely chose to act on them.

"Very well, on clarification I see no full reason to oppose your idea. You may proceed, Captain Katsuragi."

"Thank you, sir."

"But, captain…" he said bringing her to a solid halt as she turned to depart.

"Yes, sir?"

"You can consider them your responsibility."

"Understood, sir," responded Misato, grasping the veiled threat behind his words. Steeling herself, she turned and headed off to put her additional safety protocol into place.

Misato was on edge as she walked through the grassy area around the Saiyan's base camp. Her combat training kept her eyes flicking continuously around. All she could notice at first glance was the occasional blast hole, a few craters, a couple of discarded drinks cans and what appeared to be a small campfire area, else everything seemed normal with the exception of the two small dome-shaped houses which graced the landscape.

She walked up to the door of one of the houses and, after pausing nervously for a second and taking a deep breath, knocked on the door.

Seconds later the door was pulled open, Misato blinked as it appeared no one was there for half a second before looking down to find the wide, curious eyes of Goten staring back at her.

He cocked his head in confusion and blinked once before grinning widely and greeting her with an overenthusiastic, "Hi!"

"Hey there, Goten," replied Misato with a warm smile, somehow finding it difficult to be serious under Goten's innocent gaze.

"How are you today Miss…umm…" Goten stopped in mid-sentence, chewing on his fingernail as he realised he had misplaced a certain piece of knowledge in his not yet fully developed head. The request for a definitive answer came back negative. The only thing his brain could confirm was that she wasn't Rei, she was much too tall and bumpier around the middle. Therefore his brain picked the logical thing to do and selected the only other NERV-related name that had come up recently, "…_Gendo?_"

"Gendo is a boy's name, Goten," scolded Misato a little indignantly.

Goten scowled right back, "but you're a girl! You have those bumpy bits and you walk funny and don't smell bad."

"That's right, Goten. I am a girl." Sighed the Captain with considerable patience.

"Then why do you have a boy's name?" demanded Goten, his head starting to hurt a little.

"I _don't!_"

"But you just said Gendo was a boy's name!"

"My name is _Misato_, Goten." Snapped the Captain, deeply resisting the urge to wrap her fingers about his throat.

"Ohh, I remember now, you're Miss Misato! How are you today?" asked Goten as comprehension finally dawned, his brain immediately cataloguing 'the angry, bumpy NERV lady' alongside the correct name.

She dropped down onto her haunches so he wasn't craning his head up to look at her, "Just Misato is fine, and I'm fine thank you very much. Is your daddy in by any chance? I'd like to have a word with him."

"Sure, come on in, Miss Misato." Goten offered as he stepped aside to allow the woman entry.

"Just Misato, little guy," she repeated with a smile, ruffling a hand through his spiked hair eliciting a giggle from the boy as she entered.

"Dad!" Goten called as Misato entered, the form of Goku currently sprawled out asleep on the couch.

"Da-ad!" He repeated, this time bawling right into his father's ear, Misato rocked on her heels with a small grin as she watched the mini version trying to shake life into the much larger one.

"Wow, he's out like a light." Misato commented

"Yup! Only one thing to do in a situation like this…" Goten spoke, earning a curious look from Misato. Goten slipped up onto the couch and stepped onto his father's wide chest. Taking a deep, _deep_ breath he bent over and shouted his father's only useable wakeup call right into his ear.

"DINNER TIME!" Goten shouted as loud as he could.

The effect was, of course, instantaneous.

"Dinner time?" came Goku's voice, his eyes springing open, and he shot bolt upright to attention with blinding speed, catapulting his unsuspecting son into the opposite wall in the process.

"Works…every…time," Goten stammered as he slid free of the now dented wall to fall flat on his back.

"Hey, it's not dinner time for another three hours. What's the big idea Gote- "Goku stopped mid-sentence as he registered the presence of Misato, who was finding the incident rather warming in its comic sense.

"Erm, hi there." said Misato, raising a hand nervously in greeting. She wasn't really sure how to approach this one to be honest, dealing with extra-dimensional aliens wasn't really covered in her officer's course.

"Hi, nice to see you again. What can we do for you?" Goku enquired, cocking his head curiously as he stood up and stretched his arms overhead to wake himself up a bit more.

"You see…Umm… Here's the thing… I was wondering if I could ask you a favour."

Goku shrugged, dropping down onto the couch, "Sure, ask away."

"Well, you see, a while ago we attempted to activate the prototype Evangelion unit," began Misato, deciding to just lay it all on the table.

"You mean Unit-00…" said Goku, nodding his head.

"That's when Rei got hurt!" Goten interrupted, pulling his head out of the refrigerator.

Misato's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, "Not sure I want to know how you came to know either of those facts…"

Goku just coughed nervously into his hand and glanced away, trying to look innocent. He wasn't the most adept liar so he failed magnificently.

"W-Well besides that you _are_ right, and today…well… we're going to try again."

"Are you sure that's safe for Rei?" Goku enquired with a frown, folding his arms.

"That's the thing I came to ask you about. Now don't get me wrong, we think it's all going to be fine and all, but just to be safe…" she paused and inhaled a breath, "We'd like your help to get Rei safely out of Unit-00 in case it goes out of control again." Misato explained carefully and quickly in the same way one might remove a band aid.

"Daddy…" Goten said in a small tone, tugging gently on the cuff of his father's gi.

"I know, Goten, I know…" he said gently before turning back to Misato, "Of course you can count on us!" Goku exclaimed, patting his fist on his chest for emphasis, and spread his arms out as if it were the simplest and most unimposing thing imaginable, "Just tell us where you want us."

"Thank you…" Misato breathed with relief. "If you'd come with me, I'll give you a lift to headquarters." She said, beckoning to the door and her waiting car.

"You people drive too much. I tried learning how to do that once. Didn't end well…"

"Really? What happened?" asked Misato idly as she led them outside.

Goku cocked his head, "Turns out I wasn't very good, but it didn't matter in the end anyways."

"How come?"

Goku shrugged, "I remembered I could fly."

Misato inclined her head as she climbed into the front seat, "I should learn that trick, would save me a tonne in insurance. Turns out letting your car get almost crushed by an Angel and hit by the blast wave from an N2 Mine will make you lose your no-claims bonus."

Goku nodded as he opened the passenger door. Suddenly he hesitated, "Wait, better leave a note for Vegeta, we don't want him thinking something's happened. He's got quite a temper you know," Goku said as he scribbled a note down on a piece of paper.

"You don't say…" said the waiting Misato.

"Oh yeah I'm… umm… _sorry_ 'bout that whole thing with Vegeta." Goku said with a smile.

"Yeah… So are we," she replied, eyes downcast slightly.

"Hey, it's all in the past now. I mean if Trunks could let it drop without blowing up your headquarters, I'm pretty sure the rest of us can," said Goku with a smile as he closed the passenger door behind him.

"That's good to hear."

"So how's Rei?" asked Goten

"Well why don't you ask her? I'm sure you'll end up bumping into her." she said, giving him a warm smile.

"Great!" Goten exclaimed in his usual overenthusiastic tone.

"Right!" Said Misato in a low voice, and Goku noticed the way she suddenly gripped the steering wheel with excitement, "Let's go then!"

And so Captain Katsuragi carefully and methodically drove off, keeping well within the speed limit and obeying all traffic laws like a good government official.

Actually no as, even if probability could go so far as to allow a single universe's Earth to concurrently contain dimension hopping aliens, monstrous creatures named after messengers of God, giant bio-engineered behemoths and secret societies ruling society as to fulfil an ancient biblical prophecy, it still couldn't go _that_ far.

Needless to say, it was probably the first time in history anyone has scared two Saiyans into putting their seatbelts on.

"Dad, I really think you should've just used your instant transmission." Called Goten, gripping onto his own seatbelt as Misato swerved to avoid an unsuspecting cat that had been curled up on the sidewalk.

Goku was sat rigid, and laughed nervously, "No need, Goten, I'm pretty sure this is faster."

"I don't know what that instant whatchamacallit thing is, but I _heard_ that." Said Misato, knowing when she'd been insulted as she swerved the car dangerously across the road and back again.

"Go! Go! Go!" Goten chanted happily, bouncing up and down in his seat as Misato drove on in her usual style.

_Several minutes and eight speed-camera flashes later…_

"You weren't kidding, Goten, this place is huge!" Goku exclaimed as the express lift went out over the Geo-front.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Misato said from her driver's seat. Goku's reply was little more than a silent nod of awe as he took in the vast sight of the Geo-front.

Little was said for several minutes as Misato led the two Saiyans through the depths of NERV headquarters towards the testing area, several section two agents noticeably swerving out of the way at the sight of Goten happily skipping alongside the Captain along with what appeared to be a much bigger version of the Saiyan who they had attempted to apprehend once before, and in the mind of security and military personnel, bigger usually meant badder.

_Meanwhile…_

Silently, two figures moved through the main pedestrian entrance to NERV headquarters, both heading to a mutual destination.

Rei Ayanami and Shinji Ikari had walked from school in perpetual silence, the only sounds either of the teens had really made that entire day was between Shinji and his two newly made friends in the form of Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuahara…

_Yesterday afternoon…_

"What?" Shinji asked in his usual morally dejected tone, "If you want to go and hit me again, just go right ahead…"

"Quiet for a second okay, Shinji? This 'aint easy for me…" Toji said, putting himself into deep thought for a second, before shaking off his indecision as if he had suddenly planned this entire conversation.

"Right, I'm sorry ok!" He suddenly blurted out.

Shinji blinked, "Huh?" he asked, "For what?"

"For hitting you of course, you dimwit!" he replied.

"Don't be…" said the pilot in a faraway voice, "I deserved it."

"Hmm NO, you didn't!" He said with undisguised strain. It wasn't exactly easy for Toji Suzuhara to show his compassionate side _and_ to admit mistakes at the same time.

"B-but…" began Shinji.

"_Look_, Shinji…" The teen jock cut in, his tone quietening suddenly, "My sister was right; I _was_ wrong to blame what happened all on you. You saved our lives. When I think about it, she probably would've been killed if you _hadn't_ done anything." He took a moment to pause and collect himself before continuing, "Besides… I've seen how this whole thing has been messing you up inside. I've noticed how much strain you've been under since you came here, and to be honest I didn't think it was possible for one person to become worse than what _you_ came as…_so_…" He trailed off, glancing to the side.

"W-what?" Asked Shinji uncertainly, not quite sure what to feel never mind to say.

"You gotta hit me back, simple as that!" He explained, stabbing himself with his thumb for emphasis.

"_Hit you_?" Shinji suddenly asked with disbelief, "b-but I can't…"

"Shinji, come on, you have to. Don't run away from this one, I gotta have it squared out."

Shinji paused under that comment, realising there was no way out.

"O-okay, but only once!" He confirmed, glancing hastily around to make sure there was no one else in the classroom, unaware however of the class rep's half concealed presence behind the door.

"Okay." Toji said, standing up in front of Shinji and squaring his shoulders in preparation.

"He can be real embarrassing at times, can't he, Shinji?" Kensuke said with a grin from the side.

"Right…" Shinji said, standing up and pulling a fist back uncertainly.

"And don't you _dare_ hold back…" Toji added quietly as the Third Child prepared to strike.

Shinji clenched his fist harder and struck, gritting his teeth as he swung his fist at the taller boy with all his strength, smashing him square in the jaw. There was a loud crack and the boy was thrown backwards over the desk directly behind him and into a somewhat unceremonious heap on the floor.

"Ohh, gawd. That one had to hurt!" Kensuke exclaimed rubbing his own jaw in sympathy.

"Hmm…" Toji hummed in thought as he rose back onto his feet as if mulling the blow over in his mind, "good one…" he admitted with a smile, a hand rubbing the red mark where he knew he would soon be sporting an impressive bruise. And, though he would never admit it, he was shocked that, for such a scrawny-looking guy, Shinji Ikari had a mean right cross.

"S-Sorry, I didn't think that would…" Shinji began.

"What are you saying? Like I said; no holding back."

"O-okay." Shinji said uncertainly, looking away with a small smile on his face.

Toji sighed, clicking his head from side to side, "_Anyway,_ what you doin' for lunch? All I got's this psychotic military otaku as company, we could use a change." Toji said with a grin, ignoring the insulted face Kensuke made, though the boy was glad Toji had managed to make things clear with the new kid.

"I-I don't know, I usually eat alone and…" Shinji said quietly, looking away.

"Exactly! Now get your butt in gear and let's go! Oh, and by the way… what you got for lunch?" Toji said as he dragged Shinji off with Aida close behind.

"My god, Toji! Just how much do you need to eat?" Kensuke asked as he dragged up Shinji's and his bag along with all their lunches, Toji's requiring significantly more effort than both others combined.

"Oh, shut up!" Toji shouted as he smacked his friend on the back of the head as he dragged his new friend along; not noticing the solitary class rep standing with a small smile and a blush on her freckled cheeks as she watched the proceedings.

'He can be so nice when he wants to,' she thought for a second, blushing slightly redder, before entering the classroom in order to rearrange the desks which had been knocked over by Toji's little tumble.

_The next day (aka. the present)_

Shinji's mind was so preoccupied with thoughts at the time (which was sort of a reversal of roles in situations involving him and Rei) that he had totally failed to notice his proximity to Ayanami, who was now struggling to contemplate something to say to the pilot of Unit-01, as opposed to her being the one stuck in mental contemplation. She had missed several opportunities to talk with her colleague, mainly due to the Third child not being as solitary as he had been two days ago thanks to his two new friends.

"I do not understand…" Rei suddenly said quietly in her usual monotone. Shinji blinked once in surprise as his thought purposes were interrupted.

"Huh?" He enquired, passing back a curious stare to the First Child as she boarded the escalator behind him, "What don't you understand, Rei?"

"You are Commander Ikari's son, are you not?" She asked, as if it were a rhetorical question.

"Yes." Shinji replied somewhat bluntly with a hint of both curiosity and resentment.

"Why is it then that you talk that way about your own father? Do you not trust him in his decisions?" Rei asked, attempting to put in words what she had been going over in her mind for the past few weeks.

Shinji's response was much louder than he intended, but he didn't find himself lowering his voice, suddenly feeling that it was both a stupid and insulting question, though he had known the First hadn't intended it as such, "Why? You're asking me _why?"_ he asked somewhat agape, turning fully around to make sure she got all this as he began counting things off, "He abandons me just after my mother dies," he began, counting on his fingers as he listed things off, "pays me no heed for over a decade. And then suddenly calls me back to tell me 'he has a _use _for me'!" He continued. "So what do I do? I risk my _life_ for him piloting his stupid EVA!" He found himself leaning into Rei's face without realising it, "And then he uses me to do his own _dirty work_ by fighting lost children for his own sick purposes! And now he's _stupid_ enough to go around _kidnapping_ them, virtually right in the face of their fathers –A man, lest we not forget, who we saw reduce an _Angel _to dust with his bare hand - and then nearly gets himself killed when said father comes looking!"

"And you ask me _why?_ That… _idiot,_" he shouted out, somehow all without barely taking a breath, gasping out the last word with the remainder of his strength as he slumped forward.

His chest heaved for air as if he had just run ten miles without stopping. The First child noticed as one or two stray tears fell from his eyes in the process, his right hand firmly clenched into a fist at his side as he finally, for one of the first times in his life, truly spoke his mind.

Rei had taken a step back in shock midway through the pilot's explanation.

"I…" Shinji said suddenly, taking a deep breath and standing up to his full height in order to look Rei directly in her crimson eyes before continuing "_Hate him_!" Rei blinked in surprise both from his words and the suddenly determined look in his eyes, different from the sheer look of anger and frustration a few mere seconds before.

She was about to say something back in response, but Shinji suddenly spoke again, in a quieter, more solemn and slightly emotional tone "But you know what? That's not the worst part about it…"

"What?" Rei prompted.

"It's that, no matter how much he makes me hate him, no matter what he does, what frustrates me the most… Is that I don't _want_ to hate him!" he finished, his tone that of despairing exasperation. Rei's eyes widened in curiosity as he continued, "And yet, I hate him so _much_ it makes me sick! Gyah, it drives me _crazy_ just thinking about it!" He shouted out the last part, shaking his head with his hands on his temples, his legs feeling somewhat weak as several more tears began to fall from his eyes. His left hand used the escalator banister as if it were the only thing stopping his entire body from falling over.

He held that position until he reached the bottom of the escalator and just stood still in silence, more tears continued to fall as he let all his pent up emotions reach the surface, not noticing as Rei walked by him and stopped at his side, not even registering as her hand gently ushered him off the bottom of the moving walkway, if only for health & safety reasons.

Rei stared at the Third Child for what seemed like forever as he silently sobbed, his words cycling through her head over and over. And, thinking back to the incident with Goten, responded in the only way she thought proper. She brought up her right hand up flat, pulled it back, and brought it down over the cheek of the Third Child, not as a strike but, to the Third's sudden surprise, to softly and carefully caress it with her slender palm, brushing off several tears with her thumb as she did so.

Shinji froze. It was as if time had halted all around them. There were no tears, no sorrow, no despairing feelings. There was only her hand, and the feeling it made as her fingertips brushed over the edge of his cheek, a peculiar caring and warmth seeming to seep into him from the point of contact. His mind only barely registered Rei as she reached round into her school bag and pulled out an unused handkerchief.

"Here," She said, offering it to Shinji who, after managing to overcome the total shock in his system, managed to accept it.

"T-Thank you, Rei," he said as he brushed off any remaining tears that were present and returned it to Rei, who replaced it back in her bag.

Do you feel…_better_, now?" She asked unsurely, cocking her head slightly.

Shinji paused as he contemplated his answer. He found himself giving the First Child a warm smile "Yes, thank you, Rei…"

Rei nodded in simple confirmation as they both turned and walked off together towards the testing area in comfortable silence.

"Your reactivation experiment… Are you nervous, Rei?" Shinji asked with more than a hint of concern.

"I… do not know," Rei said, as she suddenly found herself feeling unsure of her own situation for a reason she couldn't currently comprehend.

"Well… I think you should ah…_cheer up_, Rei! And hope for the best. I'm sure everything will turn out okay this time." said Shinji in a small attempt to reassure the First Child as they stood face to face at the junction points leading to the locker room and the test area control module.

Rei could say nothing as she averted her gaze from him, unsure what to feel. This time she was the shocked one as she felt the Third Child's hand slip into her own. She was unprepared for the small gasp that escaped her throat as he gave it a reassuring squeeze as she met his eyes once more, the warmth there something she had never seen in anyone's eyes for her except the commander, only it was different. The commander looked at her, but in a way also not at _her_, she always felt that when he looked at her and smiled, it wasn't even her she was looking at. This feeling was _different_. It stirred something in her she couldn't place.

"Well good luck, Rei. You're strong… much stronger than I am. I'm sure you'll be fine." The Third Child said with strange confidence as Rei stared at their joined limbs and found herself gripping the Third Child's back softly in response, this was just as the announcement that the test was to begin in under fifteen minutes came bawling over the intercom.

Shinji suddenly slipped his hand out from Rei's grasp, blushing somewhat as he began to head off in the other direction towards the control room to watch the experiment, keeping his warm smile in place as Rei stared into his eyes, her hand subconsciously brushing together where he had held it. 'He is… warm.' She thought to herself as she stared at him. Rei then did something she had never done before for anyone else but the commander; as she looked back into Shinji's dark blue eyes… she smiled back.

Rei swiftly turned about and headed off towards the changing room.

Shinji however, now he wasn't doing much of anything, except perhaps standing with his jaw hanging open.

"Did she just…" Shinji found himself beginning to say out loud and then paused, frowning as if needing to confirm the word was actually correct "…_Smile_?" he gaped, before adding silently to himself 'at _me_?' as if it were the most important part.

"Did who just smile?" asked a familiar voice, startling Shinji out of his revere.

"Misato… I didn't see you there, are you here to-" he paused as he registered the presence of the two figures behind her. "Goten… and _Goku?_ What are you two doing here?" He asked, more than a little startled the two had just waltzed into a high security area.

"We're Rei official safety guys for her experiment thingy!" said Goten happily.

"Safety guys?" asked Shinji, glancing at Misato with a raised eyebrow.

"Didn't you hear? I got approval from the Commander to allow them in to step in and help, should something go wrong with Unit-00 during the activation test. We don't want Rei getting hurt like last time."

"Really? That's great, but… shouldn't you tell Rei this?" Shinji asked, a slightly more relieved tone in his voice now.

"She'll be informed if she hasn't already. Where is she by the way?" Misato enquired, glancing about.

"You just missed her, she went off to get suited up," explained Shinji, pointing a finger back over his shoulder.

"Ohh, shame. I wanted to see her again," said Goten.

"Don't worry, you can see her afterward. Besides, I'm sure she'll be much happier to know you're here, Goten," explained Goku as they turned to walk towards the control room.

"What was it you were saying before we arrived, Shinji?" Misato asked as they walked on, tilting her head around to look at her charge.

"Oh, W-what? It was nothing, nothing at all," Shinji stammered quickly, suddenly finding the view ahead very interesting.

"Hey, are you blushing?" Misato asked, narrowing her eyes as her woman's intuition flared up and caused her to grin almost cat-like at the boy.

"N-no I am not! And stop teasing, okay?" pouted Shinji, scowling to hide the flush on his face.

"Like I said, you're too much fun not to tease. It would be a _crime_ not to!" She said with a grin, earning a small growl from Shinji which merely elicited a laugh from both the Captain and Goku in response as they entered the control room.

"Status?" Asked Dr Akagi of Maya as she ran through the final checks as Misato, Goten, Goku and Shinji entered.

"Entry plug is locked and secure; we're all ready to go, ma'am" replied Maya.

"This is the second test control room, where you can monitor the experiment in case something goes wrong." Misato explained as the two Saiyans, plus Shinji, took positions at her sides in the centre of the control room to give the technicians enough room to continue moving about. Shinji took a position slightly further back and out of sight yet still fully able to see the proceedings.

Misato approached Dr Akagi as Goten wandered around pointlessly before stopping next to sub-commander Fuyutski's position. The little Saiyan hovered up in the air several feet to get a better view. Goku, however, hadn't budged from the spot he had stopped in when he entered the room, his eyes locked squarely ahead through the viewing portal.

Everything else seemed drowned out around the Saiyan as he kept his eyes trained on Unit-00's waiting form. His eyes narrowed at the hulking form.

Gendo's eyes followed Goku and Goten as they took up their positions, yet trained on Goku for a second before approaching him and stopping by his side, eyes focused on Unit-00 also.

"Are you aware of what your task is here?" asked Gendo, who kept his eyes locked with the single optical lens of the prototype EVA, "Is there a problem?" asked Gendo with a slight frown after getting no response for a moment.

"You okay, daddy?" Goten asked, breaking his father out of his half-trance.

Goku blinked, shaking his head slightly to clear it, "Wh-what? Yes, I'm fine…"

"What's wrong?" Goten pressed, sure his father had a feeling about something.

"It's just… I sense it. Even though it's totally inactive, I can _sense it…_" said Goku slowly, catching the attention of Gendo and Kozo.

"What, its ki? So can I." Goten said with a shrug.

"_No…"_ breathed the Saiyan, "It's not that. It's just, when I focus on its ki, there's something else, something almost… _aware._ And I get the strangest feeling that, as I look at it…" Goku paused, in thought as his voice had taken on a slight edge and had, unbeknownst to him, attracted the attention of everyone around him,

"What is it, daddy?"

"…that it's _watching_ me." He said in a puzzled tone, inadvertently gaining multiple spooked looks on the faces of many of the techs in the room and nothing more than a pair of narrowed eyes from Gendo, who suddenly began to second-guess allowing the Saiyan into headquarters.

"You can _sense_ these kinds of things?" asked Fuyutski critically, earning nothing more than a minute nod from Goku.

"A-Anyway, I'm sure it's nothing, right!" Said Goku suddenly, trying to break the half-silence, rubbing the back of his head with a weak laugh.

"Indeed," agreed Gendo, nodding to the doctor as a signal to continue.

"Have all final checks been completed?" asked Ritsuko turning back to Maya.

"Yes, ma'am, all checks have been cleared and we're ready to continue," she confirmed as she turned back to her console, not able to help passing the occasional glance to the silent form of Unit-00 'now that you mention it…' she found herself contemplating morbidly.

"What did you mean, its _ki_?" Kozo asked from a side glance to the hovering form of Goten, a slight note of curiosity in his voice.

Goten hummed in thought as to how to phrase it, "Hmm, how would my dad say? Right, he would say 'every living thing has its own ki, or energy, from the smallest thing to the strongest warrior. The stronger the ki of something, the stronger it is in actual fact' we can use it to fly and stuff too. You just gotta know how to use it!" Goten explained to the elder ex-professor.

"I see…" the sub-commander replied as he contemplated the boy's words, his eyes finding it difficult to pull away from the empty space between the boy's feet and the ground, many of the other technicians also passing glances back as they passed.

"Are you ready?" asked Gendo with a sideways glance to Goku.

"Don't worry. If anything starts to go wrong, we'll get her out of there safely. You can count on us," Goku said seriously, immediately turning to his son and asking with a smile, "Ready, Goten?"

"Ready!" The boy responded, raising an enthusiastic fist.

'You would never think it just by looking at them…' the sub-commander contemplated as he watched Goten seem to bounce back and forth excitedly on his heels in the air.

"Open the feed to Unit-00," ordered the commander.

"Yes sir, feed is open," Maya replied as an image of Rei in the entry plug blinked to life in the top left of the monitor.

"Rei, all is prepared," informed Gendo formally. There was however the slightest soft edge in his voice as he addressed her.

"Understood," Rei said, before passing a glance and spying Goten floating next to the sub-commander. Her eyes widened an entire millimetre, which was quite an exclamation for her, "_Goten?_"

"Hi, Rei!" Goten shouted excitedly, waving to the pilot, startling Gendo who was standing in front of him.

"Why are..." began the pilot.

"They are here to help, Rei." The commander interrupted, speaking reassuringly, "Should anything go wrong this time, they are to immediately assist you from Unit-00. You will not come to any harm."

"Understood, sir" She replied, passing a glance at Shinji in the background who returned her look with a quick inclination of his head. Rei exhaled subtly as any of the hesitations that had crept up earlier evaporated.

"Are you ready, Rei?" The commander asked finally.

"Ready, sir," replied the pilot, gripping the controls, eyes forward.

Gendo pushed his glasses back up his nose and addressed the room, "Very well, we will now begin the Unit-00 reactivation experiment. Begin primary connections."

The atmosphere immediately changed. The look on Goten's face appeared far more serious and seemed to mirror to look his father now wore.

Gendo glanced to the side as he heard Goku clench a fist at his side and he swore he could almost hear the muscles tense up in the Saiyan's arm.

"Connect to main power supply," ordered Dr Akagi.

"Activation voltage is past critical point," responded Maya as information flowed across her screen.

"Is… is that good?" Goten asked after hovering up higher so he could mumble in commander Fuyutski's ear.

"All is fine for now," replied the commander, breaking neither his stare nor posture.

"Right, shift format to phase two," ordered the doctor to the techs as she monitored the readings carefully.

"Connecting pilot to Unit-00 and opening circuits," the two forward techs commented.

"Pulse and harmonics are all good. We're in sync" added Maya.

"No problems detected as of yet," Maya added.

Shinji had at this point walked forward a few steps to get a better view whilst Goku stood, staring intently as he monitored the EVA's ki signal as it began to build up.

"All nerve links completed." said one of the technicians.

"All central nerve systems are nominal," chimed in another, "no error correction required."

"All satisfactory up to 2590," Maya commented from her station as the tension built.

"Approaching critical mark; 2.5 more" said another tech as the final countdown to absolute borderline began.

A high pitched humming noise began emanating around the room, building in strength.

"1.7, 1.2, 1.0, 0.8, 0.6…" intoned Maya, Goku's eyes narrowing as he sensed the Eva's ki signal fluctuate minutely. He tilted his body, shifting his centre of gravity in readiness.

"Get ready…" Gendo murmured to Goku, who also stood with his eyes glued ahead. The Saiyan nodded once in acknowledgment.

"Get ready, Goten." said Goku in a low voice.

"Ready, Dad…" Replied the boy in a similar tone

"…0.5, 0.4…" Gendo stayed steady and frozen as the noise built up and the indicator approached the borderline.

"…0.3, 0.2…"

'Come on! Work… _work_!' Shinji (and most likely everyone else in the room) began mentally chanting as the indicator reached the stage marked 'border-line' and began wobbling over it.

"…_0.1_…" there was a loud _bing_ as the indicator line passed the borderline, "…and _rising. _Absolute borderline breached; Unit-00 has been activated!" Maya announced loudly as the indicator stage screen became a mass of green.

"Roger," Responded Rei levelly, "beginning interlock tests now." She informed as everyone in the control room breathed a noticeable sigh of relief including, though with much more subtlety, the First Child.

Goten hovered back up again and asked up in Commander Fuyutski's ear "Umm… That's good, right?" The sub-commander sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly.

"Yes," he breathed in defeat, "That's good, Goten…" he finished with a slight roll of his eyes, wondering silently 'what is _with_ this kid?'

"Great!" Shouted the boy a bit too close to the commander's ear, causing him to recoil slightly as the child dropped to the floor to run to his father's side, "Hear that?" Goten asked up to his dad with a smile on his face.

"Yup, guess there wasn't anything to worry about after all," Goku said, ruffling his son's hair gently.

"Excellent," Gendo began, turning to Goku "…Thank you for your assistance, it was most-" Gendo paused mid-sentence as the Saiyan's face suddenly shifted into a serious glare, "What?" Gendo asked, unsure and a little worried if the Saiyan warrior was frowning at him or something else. Before he could ask again, the Saiyan's head shot round upwards, staring at something that wasn't there in the distance.

"_Dad…_" Goten said in a worried tone, gripping his father's leg. Gendo and everyone else in the room were now watching the two Saiyans and wondering what it was on the wall that had startled them.

"I know, son…" Goku said, his eyes not moving from that one spot.

"_What?_" Gendo asked/demanded, really not liking to have to repeat himself. Goku's head turned back round to look at him. The look in the Saiyan's dark eyes gave the commander momentary pause.

"Something's coming…" He said simply in a quiet, yet serious tone.

"What, what's coming?" Fuyutski asked as everyone else listened in. The answer, surprisingly, came from Goten.

"It's an Angel…" he replied quietly, his answer causing everyone to gasp and turn their eyes to Goku who, feeling their stares upon him, nodded once in simple confirmation.

"But why haven't Trunks or Vegeta taken care of it?" Asked Goten.

"They're on the other side of the planet remember, Goten. I _doubt_ they've noticed."

"Ohh yeah…" said the younger Saiyan, feeling slightly foolish for forgetting.

"That's impossible. How can you _possibly_ know an Angel is approaching out of intuition alone?" demanded Ritsuko critically.

"Not intuition…" Goku said in reply, his mind still focused on the approaching ki.

"Impossible…" Dr Akagi repeated dismissively and was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the sound of the emergency phone-line ringing in the background. She quirked her head round to watch Commander Fuyutski answer it, the man's face remaining frozen and impassive until he hung up the phone.

"Well?" Gendo asked.

The sub-commander coughed once, "We've just received word of an unidentified object on a direct course for Tokyo-3, it… appears to be the next Angel." he said, and the room went into momentary, uncomfortable silence.

"Told you so!" Goten barked at the Doctor, who winced slightly and chose not to dignify him with a response.

"Fuyutski!" Snapped Gendo suddenly, his voice like a small thunderclap that called everyone in the room to attention, "Order the move to first stage alert. Rei, we're finished for the day, you can come back now," he ordered, his voice becoming slightly less demanding when he addressed the First Child.

"Umm…" Shinji began nervously, getting his father's attention, "…you're not going to use Unit-00, are you?" Shinji asked his father, his tone purveying concern as he did so.

Gendo narrowed his eyes at his son for a second before answering "No, she isn't ready to fight yet," Gendo replied, watching his son's reactions carefully and catching the subtle look of relief wash over his face. The commander filed away this sudden interest in the First's welfare by his son for future investigation but for now paid it no further heed.

"She won't have to be…"Shinji paused, his eyes narrowing, flicking once to Rei's and back, "I'll beat it," he said, and with a strange undertone of determination.

There was a brief silence in the room as Shinji turned to walk out of the control room.

"W-Where are you going?" Misato asked in a somewhat startled tone. Shinji passed a glance back before answering.

"To Unit-01, I assume you want me to beat that thing, right?" Shinji asked cocking his head curiously.

"R-right…" stammered the Captain, slightly surprised.

"Good, then we're all in agreement." Said the pilot as he spun round and headed off to change into his plug suit.

"Umm, is it just me… Or did that seem a little weird just then?" Misato asked, folding her arms.

"I know. He almost seemed… _intent _on piloting," Dr Akagi said in a slightly bewildered tone.

"Umm, that's a good thing though, right?" Goku asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess so… But I wonder what brought that on?" Misato asked, thinking deeply as she spoke.

"Doctor," The commander suddenly spoke in, snapping everyone back to attention, "Have Unit-01 prepped and ready for launch as soon as possible."

"It can be ready in less than seven minutes, sir," The doctor replied as everyone rushed off to do their required task.

Misato turned about and left, heading for the bridge with Goku and Goten.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Ramiel drew inexorably closer…

_To be continued…_

-XA-

[A/N] well, this took longer than expected, so I thank you for not lynching me due to the delays, am glad this one is back moving in full swing. As older readers of this fic may recall, this chapter was split in two, the second part should be out quite soon. Look forward to seeing you there.

See you all soon in Chapter 8: Balance of Power Part 2.


	8. Chapter 8: Balance of Power Part 2

[A/N] And here we are again, much sooner than last time, although to be fair that wasn't entirely difficult. I probably could've had a single monkey sitting at a single typewriter type manage to come out with the last chapter quicker than I did, but I've promised to better and do better I shall. It's nice to see you all back on board and I suppose many of the following chapters will be little more than nostalgia for most, I hope you enjoy them anyways. On we go then…

**Eva Possibilities and Fusion Pandemonium**

**Chapter 7: Balance of Power (Pt. 2)**

"You ready, Shinji?" Misato asked through the feed into the EVA's entry plug from the command bridge having just arrived with Goku.

"Ready as I'll ever be…" Shinji said, his hands gripping the butterfly controls like tension balls.

"Good luck out there!" said Goku before turning round to Gendo, "are you _sure _you don't want our help for this?" he asked with a slight frown.

Gendo's eyes flicked down to the Saiyan without breaking his trademark pose, "Yes, NERV cannot rely on you alone. It is EVA's place to fight the Angels. Your intervention should be nothing less than a last resort." Gendo explained, truthfully he couldn't care less who offed the Angels and in fact would prefer any assistance in removing the, but at least this way it kept the committee from crawling up his ass over '_diverting from the scenario'_.

All was abuzz in the cage as the EVA was moved into position, everything seemed to be in motion with the exception of the solitary form of the First Child, who stood watching the proceedings or, to be more accurate, she stood watching the EVA itself, not noticing the orange blur wiz past over her head and spiral round behind the EVA to conceal itself.

"Prepare launch sequence," ordered Misato back on the bridge.

"EVA Unit-01 has been secured on the catapult and we're ready to go," Maya informed as she read off her console.

"Right… open catapult tracks," she commanded.

"I hope this goes well, but still we'd best be ready, Goten... _Goten_?" Goku asked, blinking at the empty spot his son had been occupying before looking around full circle as they prepped to send the EVA towards the surface, "Umm… Has anyone seen my son? He's about yay high, bears a passing resemblance to me…" He asked, several other people glancing around now curiously and shaking their heads.

"Umm, I think I heard him say something about going down to the cage to see Shinji off. I thought he'd be back by—" Misato paused mid-sentence as she suddenly had a damn good idea as to where Goten had ran off to, "Umm, you don't think he…" Misato offered, pointing at the image of Unit-01. Goku smacked himself on the forehead.

"Gaww… My wife is gonna kill me!" He cursed as he remembered Chi-Chi's words.

"Status?" Gendo enquired.

"The target is moving into a position directly above headquarters, no other activity thus far," said Maya in reply.

"He's probably on his way up here now. I mean he could've just gotten lost," offered Aoba at about the same instant, on the screen behind him, that a golden flaming form shot up from behind the EVA into a somersault and landed in a fighting stance on the tip of its horn. The lieutenant glanced back at the screen, paused, and looked back at Goku, "Or not…" he added with a shrug.

"Give me Unit-01's external audio feed," ordered Misato.

"Feed is open," Maya confirmed as she hit the desired control.

"Goten!" Misato barked. Goten staggered back and, with flailing arms, slipped off Unit-01's horn and landed with a clank upside down on the EVA's head. The captain winced, "Umm, are you okay?" She asked unsurely as the blonde boy pulled himself up, rubbing his head.

"I'm fine, Mister Piccolo," replied the boy with a slightly slurred voice. He shook his head rapidly from side to side to clear it, regaining his balance.

"He'll be fine." said Goku with mild exasperation.

Mistao sighed, "Just what the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Helping out!" The boy said happily, raising his hands.

"_Goten_," chided Goku, "You remember what your mother said about you fighting certain giant monsters, _right_?"

"Aww, Daaad, "he moaned petulantly in response, "You know she was worrying way too much. You used to let Gohan fight when he was my age, and I'm much stronger than he was back then."

Goku sighed, holding his hands up in defeat "Oh, _alright,_ but just this once, and you gotta promise me you'll stay out the way of these things from now on." He said, earning a beaming smile from his son.

"Promise!" Goten shouted happily, leaping up in the air once.

Goku turned to Misato, "There's no stopping him I'm afraid!" The Saiyan said, shrugging with an apologetic smile.

"Did you not hear what I said?" Cut in Gendo icily, "It is EVA's place to fight the Angels,"

"Of course," said Goku simply, pointing to the screen, "Your EVA's right there. He just has a little bit of backup, that's all."

"I guess it can't be helped," Misato sighed, yet secretly happy that Shinji had some halfway decent backup, "Oh, and Goten…" she said, turning her attention back to the screen, "You might want to hold onto something for this part.

Wha-" Goten began to ask, but was somewhat cut off.

"Launch EVA!" shouted Misato in an overly dramatic voice. An instant later the gargantuan fighting machine was shot off towards the surface, along with the small Super Saiyan on its head, who had now thrust his ki around him to protect from the overwhelming g-force that was threatening to liquefy him on top of the EVA's head.

"What?" Goku said, his senses suddenly picking up a flare in the Angel's ki.

"Ma'am! We're picking up a high energy reaction coming from inside of the target!" Aoba shouted as the EVA reached the surface, the sudden deceleration sending Goten smacking up into the roof of the elevator, something he didn't find too enjoyable, but luckily he was in his transformed state so in the end far more damage was done to the elevator than the Saiyan.

"_What_?" Misato breathed in shock, knowing that any unknown involving an Angel usually meant something bad and, as Aoba responded, this proved to be no exception.

"The energy charge in its core is massing in upon itself!"

"No, it can't be!" Dr Akagi shouted, knowing full well what this entailed, and from the glare on Goku's face it was clear that he didn't need any monitoring equipment to know too.

It was too late to act however as the Elevator carriage slid open, Goten unknowingly powering up and hopping into the air just in front of the EVA.

Goten blinked in the sunlight and up at the Angel, which hung in the air emitting a strange resonating noise, "Ooh… pretty."

"Both of you, get out of the way!" Goku suddenly roared over the comm. system the second the EVA was in place.

"Huh?" Both pilot and Super Saiyan asked as things then took a drastic turn for the worse.

There sudden flash from the side of the hovering angel. The reinforced armament building in its line of fire was punched through as if it weren't there as the beam trained on the closest threat in its targeting radius, which in this case just so happened to be Goten.

"GYAAAHHHH!" Goten screamed in agony as the heat of the beam hit him. He managed to raise his arms in defence just in time as he was struck by the full force of the Angel's particle cannon; the sheer force burning off half of his gi prior to impact and sending him spinning backwards and bouncing off the still form of Unit-01, his small head crashing off the solid surface and into unconsciousness as his body dropped back to the earth on the foot of the giant machine.

"Goten!" Goku, Misato and Shinji shouted in shock as the boy was incapacitated.

It didn't end there, as the Angel retrained its beam squarely on the remaining target and immediately fired again, sending another bolt through the same hole in the armament building and right into the chest area of Unit-01.

"Damn it, pull them back!" shouted Misato at the technicians as a deafening scream of agony belonging to Shinji Ikari filled the command centre.

"Yes, ma'am!" Maya replied quickly, her hands flying over the controls as she initiated the retract on the platform lift; both the EVA and the small form on its foot descending into the ground. The Angel's particle beam retained its relentless focusing on the EVA until it had completely vanished out of sight. The geometric shape fell dead silent immediately afterwards, hanging in the air with what one could almost swear was an air of satisfaction. Tokyo-3 itself fell silent also, the armament building the Angel fired through melting into a heap of slag from the sustained damage.

"Unit-01 has been recovered; it's secured in the 7th cage!" Maya informed.

"I'm going down there! Ritsuko, take over for me!" Misato shouted as she spun about round to run off, only to be stopped by Goku's hand suddenly gripping her shoulder.

"This way's faster," said Goku, "let's go!" he said, bringing two fingers to his forehead.

"W-what do you—"she began but, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, was somewhat cut off as both abruptly vanished into thin air.

_An infinitesimally small amount of time later…_

There was a shimmering in the air as the figures of Goku and Misato rematerialised on the catwalk next to Unit-01.

"-mean…_what?_" Misato gaped flatly, glancing about, "What in the hell was that?"

"Instant Transmission! Handy little thing, 'aint it?" Goku explained quickly as he turned and dived off the catwalk towards his son, leaving a half-bewildered Misato in his wake.

The Captain padded herself down with her hands, ' I'm all here I guess,' She thought somewhat numbly, 'Instant Transmission, huh? Gotta remind him to ask me _before_ he does that again, though,' she contemplated all this quickly before shaking it off and dashing towards Unit-01 as the entry plug was emergency-ejected and the LCL discharged.

Goku swiftly scooped up the silent form of his son, his body bursting briefly into blue flame as he shot back up onto the catwalk, landing silently next to Misato.

"Is he—" Misato began as unit-01's hatch was being opened, her eyes flicking between the EVA and the still child.

Goku shook his head as he regarded his son, "No… He's alive. I'm pretty sure he'll be fine," he said as he held his son in his arms, who was now sporting a ruined gi, a gash down the side of his body with some mild burns around it and a hell of a bump on his head.

"After _that_ and you think just going to be _fine?_" Misato demanded with a note of incredulity.

Goku smiled softly as he looked down at his son, "He's a tough little guy. I'm just glad he was Super Saiyan at the time else he might've gotten seriously hurt, "he said as his son began coughing nad shifting back into consciousness.

The boy looking up to his father through lidded eyes and blurred vision, "I-I'm so sorry, Daddy, " he said weakly, I guess I c-couldn't help out after all," he finished, stammering through the tears formed in his eyes, tears only partly caused by the physical pain he was in. His father's face softened as he ran a hand through his son's hair and gave him one of his warm smiles "Hey, don't talk like that. You did great out there, little guy. Just you rest now and leave it all up to us, okay?" He said quietly. Goten gave him an unsteady smile in response before slipping back into his unconsciousness.

Misato rested a hand on the Saiyan's shoulder, "That was sweet…" She said, smiling as Goku kept his eyes on his son.

"Yeah… Well the little guy tried his best, and he only wanted to help," Goku said as he held his son carefully, trying not to irritate any of his wounds. "_Come on…"_ He groaned impatiently as the hatch to Unit-01's plug was finally opened, "Can't they go any faster?"

"I know…" Misato moaned with her arms crossed as she turned to the technicians working above "Hey! Can you please get your fingers out and move this along a bit!" She shouted, the operators stammering something inaudible as they immediately worked faster to lift the control seat directly out of the EVA and up onto the catwalk.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted as she ran over to her charge's side, of who currently lay unconscious in his control seat, Goku shadowing close behind.

"He doesn't look so hot…" said Goku, somewhat understating the obvious.

"What's the status of the medical teams?" she shouted up into the comm. system to the command bridge, who she knew were still monitoring.

"There are two stretcher parties on their way. They should be there any second," replied Maya a second later through the loudspeaker.

"_Good…_" Misato breathed and seconds later, as promised, two medical teams entered, lifting Shinji onto one of the medical beds and placing the slumbering Goten down on the other. Misato and Goku followed their respective charges into the medical area right up until they were stopped by the double doors of the treatment area.

About an hour later in a darkened NERV monitoring room filled with multiple large screens displaying all relevant data on the enemy, an enemy who was now in the process of drilling straight down into the geo-front. Some screens displayed the results of several tests of the Angel's defences, all of which had resulted in the total annihilation of whatever had been used to attack it. Goku, at this point, had thought it wise to wait for his son's recovery and any more data on the Angel before making any attempt to fight it himself, unsure as to just what the Angel's full capabilities and range were.

"So what's its ETA?" asked Misato asked from her chair, idly twirling a pen between her fingers in the dim light.

"From our estimates we have a further nine hours and fifty-five minutes. A that point it will have breached all defensive armour layers and hit headquarters directly," replied Hyuuga from his position behind her.

"Looks like we still got some time then," offered Goku with a note more optimism.

"Yeah… _some,_" Misato replied, her tone much more weary and pessimistic than the Saiyan's.

"Is this the time we raise the white flag or make one last frantic stand and go out with all guns blazing?" offered Goku with a sigh.

"Hmm, that's an idea, but before we do that," said Misato as a contemplative smile crept over her face, "there's just one last thing I'd like to try…"

_Several hours, proposal's and operation Yashima preparation's later…_

Rei sat alone in a chair near the two treatment beds containing the healing forms of Goten and Shinji, thoughts of recent events flashing through her mind. In her left hand she gripped the damaged pair of the Commander Ikari's glasses she had kept. Interestingly, she found her right hand rubbing together at the spot Shinji had touched her as she gripped the handkerchief she had loaned him earlier.

"Dedicated, I must say," Goku said, startling Rei (if causing someone to blink could be classed as startling them) as suddenly dropped down into the seat next to her, "Any sounds from our sleeping friends?"

"No," Rei replied simply as she continued to look on.

"And you?" Goku asked, glancing sideways at her.

"What?" enquired Rei in her usual monotone.

"You've been sitting here for hours now. Do you want something to eat or drink?"

"I am fine," she replied simply as silence descended for a moment.

"Yeah..." Goku sighed as he brought his hands behind his head and leaned back to stretch, yawning slightly, "You know they could make these places a bit more homely, they seem so… sterile," he said, glancing about the darkened room.

"It is an emergency room," commented Rei in simple reply.

"Well I guess when it's an emergency you-" Goku suddenly stopped in mid breath as his mind clicked over the word 'emergency' and the conversation he had had with Vegeta earlier, "_Emergency!_" He repeated louder with a note of exuberance. Rei's head turned about curiously to regard Goku as he suddenly stood up, "I can't believe I've been so _stupid._ Rei, you're a genius!" Goku said happily.

"Why?" Rei enquired, suddenly feeling quite baffled by the Saiyan's behaviour.

"You'll see. Now don't go anywhere, I'll be right back!" Goku said as he raised his fingers to his forehead and trained his mind on the area which held some residue of his, Goten's, Trunks' and Vegeta's ki, knowing it to be their camp. He instantly blurred and disappeared

Rei blinked silently at the empty spot before systematically looking round the room in confusion. Normally in her experience, people usually didn't just vanish into thin air. Though, to her minor irritation, recent events had proved her experience to be somewhat lacking.

After reappearing on the grassy plane near their temporary domed housed, Goku immediately ran for the front door and entered. He stopped in the centre of the room, glancing around frantically.

"Come on, come on! Where are you?" He said as his eyes stopped on a table in the corner. Resting upon said table was what he came for. Running over, he swiped it up the small pouch and stuffed it in his gi before placing his fingers on his forehead and vanishing from view…

With a rush of air, and a slight shock to Rei, Goku abruptly reappeared with wide small smile on his face.

"I got 'em!" He said happily, holding up the contents of his hand.

"What?" Rei asked curiously as she stood up and approached the Saiyan, eying the small cloth pouch he held outstretched in his hand.

"These, my quiet friend, "Goku began as he slipped his hand into the pouch retrieving two small innocuous-looking green beans "are Senzu Beans!" he said, grinning as he twirled the two beans between his fingers.

"What are they for?" asked Rei tilting her head slightly as she leaned in to get a better look.

"Watch… and learn!" Goku said as he turned round and approached the two hospital beds. He turned to Shinji and carefully slipped off his oxygen mask.

"What are you doing?" Rei asked, a sudden note of concern for her co-pilot in her voice as she put a restraining hand on Goku's shoulder.

Though it would've taken no effort to shrug her hand off, he didn't, as he said in a calm voice, "Don't worry, Rei, I'm just going to help him heal a little quicker," he began as he bent over the fallen pilot, feeling Rei's hand slipping off, "Here you go, Shinji, get this down you!" he said as he slipped the bean into the Child's mouth and made sure he swallowed it down.

"Now, _watch_…" Goku said, eyeing the bars on the monitors which monitored the child's health. Seconds later, each and every indicator began rising upwards rapidly. Rei watched as the colour in the cheeks of the Third came back and his breathing steadied down, all the indicators on the monitors peaking at the top the screen and turning green.

Rei's eyes widened as Shinji began to stir and moan slightly. Goku quickly found the control to fully retract the cover on the bed just as Shinji opened his eyes.

'Incredible…' Rei thought to herself as Shinji's eyes focused and he reached a hand up to rub his head.

"Goku? Rei?" asked Shinji uncertainly as he sat up slowly.

"So how do you feel?" Goku asked, knowing what the answer would be, Shinji pausing for a second to contemplate the answer.

"I feel…_Great._ I was expecting at least a thumping headache or to feel hungry, but…"he said, trailing off in confusion he looked his body up and down. It was disconcerting to him to say the least. Normally you at least feel a little groggy when you first wake up, but he found himself feeling disturbingly alert from the instant he had regained consciousness.

"Now for you, little guy…" Goku said, turning to Goten's bed and retracting the cover.

"Goten!" Shinji said worriedly as he climbed to his feet, dragging his sheet behind him as cover. He stumbled somewhat as he attempted to find his balance, Rei grabbing firmly onto his arm to steady him. Shinji found himself to blushing heavily at the sudden contact for a second before his concern for the fallen warrior brought him back to reality.

"My god, he looks terrible," He said quietly, eyeing scorched skin down the side of his body.

"Not for much longer…" Goku said with a small smile as he slipped his son the other Senzu Bean. The indicators, which were noticeably higher than Shinji's anyway, took even less time to peak out. Shinji's eyes widened in unconcealed shock as the wound on Goten's chest closed up in seconds, healed into scar tissue which then vanished, revealing perfectly unblemished skin below.

"That's…_impossible._" Shinji breathed, the first child watching with widened eyes also.

"Well then that makes you a walking, talking impossibility, my friend. How do you think _you're_ up and about four hours earlier than everyone else thinks you should be?" asked the Saiyan rhetorically.

Shinji watched as Goten stirred and his eyes opened. "No way…"

"W-where am I?" asked the child curiously as he sat up, scratching his head with one hand and the tingling sensation in his arm and chest with the other as the last few traces of his injuries healed.

"The infirmary," said Goku, "I just gave you a Senzu Bean."

"A Senzu Bean, huh?" Goten said as he looked his body up and down.

"T-the Angel?" Shinji suddenly twigged, turning to Goku urgently.

"Slowly drilling down to headquarters," he said, staring off to the side with a frown, "but don't worry, it seems your guardian has thought up a rather ingenious plan."

"M-Misato did?" Shinji asked, still a little dazed by the whole situation.

Goku smiled, "Uh huh. But don't worry, she'll tell you about it all later."

"Uh huh," said Shinji, suddenly looking uncomfortable, "Umm, could you… perhaps find us some clothes, I've got a thing about wandering around NERV headquarters with nothing more than a bed sheet as clothing."

"Sure think," Goku said as he turned and headed off to hunt down Shinji's clothes and zip off back to the campsite for a new gi for Goten.

Goten simply slipped back under the bed's covers as, though he had retained his boxer shorts, he was still starting to catch a chill. Shinji's eyes turned sheepishly to Rei as he slipped himself back under his covers, "So, Rei…" he began, pausing to find the right words, "Umm… how long have you been here then?"

"Since you were brought in," she responded simply.

"But…that was hours ago! W-why did you wait all this time?" asked Shinji, regarding Rei with curiosity.

Rei blinked, finding herself caught off guard by the question, "I…I do not know. I simply felt I had to be here," replied the pilot slowly, glancing away and pausing before continuing "During the reactivation experiment, you… were there, though you knew you could do nothing…except be there for me, I… Felt the need to do the same," Rei explained unsurely as if thinking each word out carefully.

Shinji's eyes widened slightly as this sank in somewhat, his face shifting slowly into a smile and gave the only answer he could, "Thank you, Rei." The girl turned away from his smile, Shinji's thought processes switching over to process what he found himself witnessing for just a split-second, 'Did she just… _Blush_?' he thought with no small amount of bewilderedness, 'What a day: I've released my tension and emotions and effectively broke down in front of Rei; watched Unit-00's reactivation; piloted EVA and got _zapped_ by a giant floating diamond; I got healed with some miracle bean and even weirder… I've seen Rei smile _and_ blush.' He found the combination of all this more than a little incredulous and so couldn't help a small giggle escape as he fell back on his bed with a smile.

"What a day…" He said out loud with mild amusement.

Goku returned a minute or so later bearing a neatly folded gi and a blue vacuum-packed sleeve containing a plug suit.

"Here be Saiyans bearing gifts," he said as he dropped the packet down on Shinji's bed and the small gi on Goten's, "Sorry, I couldn't find your normal clothes. Will this do?"

"Sure, it's better than a sheet." He said with a laugh as he and Goten slipped into their garments under their sheets and headed out.

And so, after getting past several protesting doctors and nurses and one altercation involving Goku flicking an unfortunately uninformed security guard out of the way, the group left the medical centre to meet Misato for briefing on her operation.

"S-shinji?" Misato stammered, gawking at the rejuvenated third child and her jaw almost dropping at the sight of a fully restored Goten, "_Goten?_"

"Yup, good as new!" Goten said with a smile, shaking his healed right arm up and down as if to demonstrate.

"Guess you could say the same for me," Shinji said, shrugging his shoulders with a shy smile.

"H-_how_?" Dr Akagi asked as she walked full circle around Shinji and Goten, looking them up and down appraisingly.

"Umm, It's a secret!" Goten exclaimed with a cheeky grin.

"Shinji?" Dr Akagi asked with a raised eyebrow, turning to the pilot in question.

"Umm, how can I put this?" he replied, pausing to think before continuing (with slight amusement), "A guy came in and gave us some magic beans. It was great; we didn't have to swap a cow for them or anything."

"_Shinji,_" Misato snapped, having been up too long for foolishness, "just answer the question." She finished, massaging the bridge of her nose with a sigh.

"Pilot Ikari is telling the truth," Rei intervened simply. Both Ritsuko and Misato fell silent, not sure which was more outlandish: Rei lying to two superior officers, or Shinji actually telling the truth on the matter.

"Magic… beans." Misato echoed numbly.

"Yup, and I'm the guy that gave 'em to them!" Goku said with a grin.

"_Beans_?" Dr Akagi pushed.

"Senzu beans, kind of an emergency instant healing thing. A guy called Korrin in our world grows them," he explained.

"I… See" Dr Akagi said slowly, "Anything else? Or does the madness end there?"

Goku hummed in thought, "I think it's all perfectly normal. Well… besides the fact that Korrin's a talking cat who lives with a samurai in a tower high above the Earth."

"Please stop." murmured Ritsuko vacantly, desperately holding on to her slipping grasp of reality.

Misato, deciding Goku had to be messing with her old college buddy in some way, decided to ignore it all, "Can we put the talking cats to the side for one moment and get on with the briefing?" Misato said with a sigh, bringing everyone's attention to her.

_Sometime later at the temporary base constructed for the operation…_

"But I thought you said she wasn't ready for combat?" Shinji asked worriedly, Rei's somewhat suicidal role in the operation having just been explained to him.

"All she has to do is cover you with the shield if necessary. It won't be a problem so long as you hit the Angel with your first shot and the shield holds," Dr Akagi explained, the noise of the construction of the power station in the background almost drowning out her voice.

"B-but what if I miss, or the Angel shoots back?"

"Don't even think that," she replied sternly, you _must_ hit the Angel with your first shot."

"And what's our role in all this then?" Goku asked from his position behind Rei.

"Should both EVA's fail to destroy the Angel, as an absolute last resort, you two are to step in and attempt to stop the Angel yourself by whatever means necessary, but let me reiterate that point: it is _only_ as a last resort." The doctor informed, keeping in mind the commander's words on requesting any kind of help from the aliens.

"Okay, I gotcha," replied Goku with a polite nod of his head, "Where do you want us then?"

"You are to take position in the mobile command unit further back from the battle. The reason for this is because during the first encounter, the Angel seemed to target you before the EVA. As we have been unable to confirm if this was due to some kind of threat prioritising on the part of the Angel or simply because you were closer at the time, we ask you remain as far back as possible and suppress your energies," The doctor reasoned, trying to come up an actual _logical_ reason for not just having the Saiyans attack and, most likely, obliterate Raimel first.

"Okay," cut in Misato, clapping her hands together, "now we've got all that settled, let's get this thing on the road, shall we?" she ordered, Shinji and Rei complying by heading off towards the temporary EVA holding area, Goku and Goten doing as they were told also by following Misato and Ritsuko to the command unit.

"So, what do you think our chances are then?" Shinji asked slowly, tilting his head to look at Rei as she sat in her plug suit in silent contemplation, the Third having decided an attempt to break the cold silence that now blanketed the night like a calm before the storm was in order.

Rei remained silent for a moment as she thought of how to answer.

"I don't know," she responded after a period, "If we follow our operational guidelines correctly along with the help from the Saiyans, I believe the Angel can be defeated."

"For some reason…" Shinji responded, pausing, "I feel that way too; I'm almost certain the Angel will be destroyed," he said, eyes narrowed straight ahead in thought.

"Then why would you ask such a thing?" Rei asked, staring forward also, her fingers drumming slowly on her knees.

"It's because I wasn't talking about the Angel's chances of defeat. I was talking about _our_ chances of survival," he explained, silence falling again between them for a moment.

"You won't die, Shinji" Rei suddenly said quietly but with an odd certainty.

"I'm not talking about_ me,_" Shinji began with a slightly tired sigh, "I'm worried about _you, _Rei"

Rei turned to Shinji at this, too momentarily startled to have an answer. Genuine concern for her well-being was not something she was accustomed to from anyone but the commander.

Her eyes were drawn to the digital readout on her plug suits wrist and, realising she had no further time to dwell on a response, could only manage, "It's time… Let's go," She informed stoically, pushing her feelings to the side and sliding to her feet, eyes somewhat distant. Shinji managed to stand up in virtual sync. Rei was about to say her farewell, but was interrupted by Shinji's, who currently had his back to her as he headed for Unit-01's entry plug.

"Just promise me one thing, Rei," he asked in a serious, yet somehow pleading tone.

"What?" Rei asked curiously, turning to regard him.

"Don't die for me." He said simply as he climbed up to the entry plug, but not before giving his own farewell first,

"I'll see you later, Rei…" He said with a smile as he looked back and down to Rei, who had paused and was looking up at him in silence. Not waiting for a response or contradiction, he closed the entry hatch behind him, leaving his co-pilot alone.

Rei stood there for a while after Unit-01's entry plug slid into position 'see me later?' she thought to herself, 'I'm not certain…' she finished, her eyes falling as she turned around and climbed into her own EVA; all was ready…

And so, as the time hit 0:00 hours, Operation Yashima began…

"Cooling systems operational, power charge building…" Hyuuga informed as EVA-01 trained the hastily constructed positron rifle on the giant form of the fifth Angel.

Shinji cocked the giant handle of the rifle, sliding a fuse into place as he kept his eyes trained on the targeting crosshair, waiting for the signal to attack.

Both Goku and Goten stood back watching the screens intently as the proceedings took place.

"Power levels nominal, transmitting all energy to the Positron Rifle," exclaimed the lieutenant.

The crosshairs on the screen converged as the rifle took aim.

"Oh no…" Goku suddenly said. Misato turned around to see what the problem was and, noticing him staring straight at the screen, she had a good idea what he was getting at, her worry was confirmed within a second.

"High energy reading detected within the target!" Aoba suddenly shouted.

"No, not now!" Misato shouted, "Shinji fire, NOW!"

Both EVA and Angel fired simultaneously, the positron beams both trained perfectly on their intended targets. Both beams, however, suddenly curved off course due to the opposing beam's positron force, crashing into mountainsides to the sides of the opposing targets.

The Command unit shook with the excess force of the Angel's particle beam as it struck nearby. Most people found themselves hurled to the floor and flung against the back, leaving only Goku stood solidly as he was. Without anyone noticing, he turned wordlessly round and headed out of the command vehicle.

"Second shot, hurry!" Misato ordered from her position on the floor.

Shinji quickly changed the fuses over and the charge began to build again with agonizing slowness.

"We're detecting two high-level energy build-ups on the battlefield!" Hyuuga shouted loudly, as he does.

"What!" Misato shouted, horrified to the implications of what this could mean.

Hyuuga's hands flew over the controls, "One's the Angel, Its building up for a second shot! The other is-" Hyuuga began, only to be interrupted by Goten's voice, which was oddly optimistic considering the situation.

"It's my Daddy!" He said, standing up and pointing to the hovering figure on screen.

'I've had enough of this…' Goku contemplated with a scowl from his position in mid-air. The air seemed to swirl around him as his body erupted in the familiar blazing flame of his Super Saiyan transformation, just as the Angel released its full force on the defenceless form of EVA Unit-01.

"Shinji!" Goku shouted. He watched as, a second later, the orange form of Unit-00 leaped in front of the blast, protected by it's shield.

"Ayanami!" shouted Shinji over the din as he recognised the silhouette of Rei's EVA holding the shield in front of them. His eyes widened as he recalled the time limit the shield had and how long the rifle was going to take to recharge.

'She's not going to make it,' he thought with dawning certainty and dismay, 'And it was only this morning… I gave her my word everything would be alright.' His thoughts trailed off with crippling sadness as his hands gripped the controls so hard he could feel the heat through the plugsuit from the blood running down his wrist. He arched his head back suddenly as he roared, defiant against the helplessness of the situation.

"DAMN IT!" he cried, "Goku! Goten! For god's sakes please, SAVE HER!" begged the pilot as the crosshairs began to draw together with fatal slowness.

Goku's mind suddenly clicked as he sensed the deep and unmistakable cry for help.

It was a cry he could not ignore.

"_Shinji…_" he whispered. 'Sorry, Doctor… time's up.' He added silently to himself as his eyes narrowed on the angel like a hunter spying his prey. He brought his hands up; palms together, drawing them down to his side as he twisted his body and began gathering energy.

"KAME…" He began, his voice echoing over the landscape as the energy rippled around him in a rush, his aura blazing into life as turf and electrical relays were torn up around him and effectively doubling the time to use the rifle.

"…HAME…" He continued as the gargantuan level of energy reached a point where it entered the visible spectrum, a pulsing ball of blinding blue energy appeared to shimmer into existence in his hands.

"…HAA!" He roared, thrusting his hands forward and releasing the full force of gathered energy in a wave of explosive blue ki.

The blast of intense blue shot across the landscape, tearing up trees and earth under its force as it rushed into the air across Tokyo-3 and, just as Unit-00's shield failed, it crashed head on into the AT field of the attacking angel. The hexagonal barrier seemed to resist for a brief instant, before visibly shattering and allowing the beam to crush straight through the heart of the angel like a hot knife through butter, blasting the entire rear-facing half of the Angel into shards as it passed through and dissipated, but not before decapitating the mountain on the opposite side of the city for good measure.

Ramiel's cannon stopped at the same instant the blue beam effectively plunged a steak through its heart; the drill below falling silent, along with any other sign of life from within the Angel it was protruding from…

There was a moment of disbelieving silence inside the command post, "He did it!" Hyuuga shouted, shattering the brief pause, "All energy readings from within the target are now completely silent; the Angel has been destroyed!" he finished, smiling widely.

Misato blew out a long breathe, smiling as looked on at the floating form of Goku, who hovered like a miniature star contrasted against Tokyo-3's night sky. Her thought process suddenly interrupted by Shinji's gasping voice.

"Thank god for that… How's Ayanami?" He asked is voice almost choking with relief.

"Status of Unit-00's pilot?" Misato asked.

"The Angel's particle beam breached the shield for an instant. It's damaged several of the EVA's systems. We're unable to receive any telemetry on the pilot," informed Maya.

"Shinji, we're unable to check up on Rei. Her EVA was hit by the Angel's attack so we can't receive any data from her entry plug." Misato said, turning to Shinji's monitor.

"Damn it!" cursed Shinji as he cut the feed and immediately willed his EVA back up and over to the fallen form of Unit-00. He reached down and pulled off the upper neck compartment, releasing the trapped entry plug and carefully placing it down on the ground. Shinji immediately crouched is EVA down and hit the emergency plug eject.

'Please be ok…' The Third Child mentally pleaded as he ran up to the half-melted entry plug and grasped hold of the emergency hatch.

"Gyahh!" He recoiled back as his hands met the superheated steel for a second, 'Damn… I'm starting to feel sympathy for my Father!' He cursed and gritting his teeth, he grasped the handles firmly and bit through the searing pain long enough to open it up.

"Rei!" shouted Shinji urgently as he leaned into the entry plug, his eyes meeting the First Child, "Are you alright?"

Rei struggled to open her eyes to meet the concerned face of Shinji Ikari, she stared at him in confusion, for a second mistaking him for someone else 'those eyes…' she thought distantly, 'Only he has ever looked at me with those eyes before…' She leaned up and forward, managing a nod as she noticed tears in the eyes of the Third Child for a second time.

"Why is it you cry?" She asked, tilting her head curiously.

He choked out a laugh, mopping his eyes with his wrist, "_Silly_… It's 'cause I'm glad you're okay…" He said, managing a smile and added, "…and… that you kept your promise."

"Yes… I did," Rei said, realising that for once, she was truly glad she was alive. On that; She smiled again "…It _is_ later," She finished as she left Unit-00 with the aid of Shinji to wait for the emergency teams to arrive…

"Looks like I owe you again," Misato said as she walked out of the command unit into the starry night of Tokyo-3 to find Goku sat on the grass, leaning up against the steel structure, one knee outstretched and one up to his chest and Misato noted how he seemed to be sitting watch over the silent city and the people within.

"I had to," Goku said simply, a content smile on his face.

"You had to?" she asked with a frown, "Why?"

Goku's face turned to her as if confused by the question and then, with his usual smile, he answered:

"It's what I do…" He replied simply, and with the only answer he could…

_To be continued…_

-XA-

[A/N] well I'll be darned, two releases in the same year, something must be wrong with me. In all seriousness though, I hope you enjoyed reading this little instalment as much as I did rereading and revising it. I'll again endeavour to get the next little segment out as soon as possible.

Coming up next time... Set soon after the Jet alone incident, the supposedly routine transportation ofr Evangelion Unit-02 turns complicated with the intervention of the Sixth Angel, leaving Shinji, Trunks and Goten to handle it along with the help of everyone's favourite 'love her or hate her' German redhead. See you all next time for:

Chapter 8: Arguments and Angels.


	9. Chapter 9: Arguments and Angels

[A/N] Well I'll be, back again. You may have to forgive me if the length of time between releases increases a tad, this isn't through lack of effort I assure you and more to do with the fact that the chapters get exponentially longer as the tale goes on. Either way, thanks again for all your kind words and inspirations to keep going, I'll do my best not to let you down. Oh, and in answer to a couple of questions I've received, no, this is not going to follow Rebuild's story (awesome as it is), I'm sticking to my guns and keeping to the original series…loosely anyways. But enough from me…

**Chapter 8: Arguments and Angels**

The calm skies of the Pacific Ocean were disturbed by the presence of a U.N MIG-55 D transport helicopter and also the trail of blue flame on its right hand side, said trail belonging to the spiralling form of Trunks as he looped over the helicopter occasionally, enjoying the leisurely flight.

"Umm, you wanna remind me how he's doing that again?" asked Toji, still dumbfounded by the sight of the Saiyan child as flew alongside the helicopter, which currently contained the familiar forms of Shinji Ikari, Misato Katsuragi, Toji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida and also Goten who, due to space constraints, was curled up contentedly on Misato's lap.

"He just _can_…" Misato breathed as she ignored the latest question about Trunks' ki control ability, Goten's accurate description had obviously not been accurate enough for the two teenage boys; hence causing her to just give up and stick with the whole 'he just can' explanation.

"And why didn't he just fly in here with us?" asked Shinji of Goten who was currently admiring the view out the window, as opposed to Toji and Kensuke, who were far more admiring of the view of what Goten was sitting on.

"Trunks doesn't like to fly in planes and stuff if he doesn't have to," Goten said as his eyes followed Trunks' ki trail as it ripped the clouds into all different kinds of interesting shapes and swirls depending on what direction he moved in. "Besides, it's cramped enough as it is," Goten said as he shifted about a bit on Misato's lap and ended up leaning back and resting his head in her rather ample chest. He let out a content sigh and began to drift off, chewing absently on his thumbnail.

"Ooh!" Misato suddenly gasped at the shock, before letting out a small smile, her hands coming to rest on the child's head. She considered that if it were anyone else they might be putting the moves on her, and then she looked into that hopelessly clueless face and dismissed it in its entirety.

"Kid, you don't know how good you've got it…" commented Toji sagely and with a hint of jealousy.

"Wha?" Goten asked dreamily, cocking his head about in his impromptu pillow to look at him with lidded eyes.

"Toji," chided Kensuke, "stop trying to corrupt the kid and let him enjoy his happy and blissful ignorance while he can," he said dismissively, more interested in recording the phenomena of Trunks, who was currently zipping about in the air with such speed it was as if the helicopter were standing still, "wow… How does he _do that_?" Kensuke said in awe as he struggled to keep his viewfinder focused on the Saiyan.

"He has invisible wings!" snapped Misato with slight frustration "Does that work for you?" Goten just giggled slightly as he drifted between sleep and consciousness.

Kensuke gave up trying to keep the boy in view after a moment and returned his attention inside, "Man, this helicopter is sooo cool! It rocks having famous buds like you, Shinji!"

"Wha?" Shinji asked with Goten-like cluelessness.

Misato leaned around to address them, "Well, I was sure you all must've been pretty sick of being cramped up in the city all the time, and since it would give the two Saiyan kids a chance to see a bit more of our world, I thought it would be kinda nice to invite you all along on this little date," said Misato said with a wink to the passengers in the back.

Suddenly she found her thoughts troubled, 'Although I can't possibly comprehend why the commander actually authorised my request to bring Shinji and the two Saiyans along so readily' Misato contemplated as she rubbed her chin in thought, 'it's almost like he's expecting trouble'. Her thoughts were interrupted and she was drawn back to the present by the excited voice of Toji in the back.

"Wow! Are you saying that this is _really_ a date we're having here, Misato? And I bought this cap just for today too," he said with expected youthful exuberance, any reply Misato could have made being interrupted by Shinji's bored voice, who hadn't appreciated having his one day off interrupted and being woken up at 5am to drive to the airfield.

"And so where are we going?" he sighed.

"Ooh, we're just gonna take a short cruise on that cute little boat down there!" She said with a grin as she pointed out of the window, the helicopter descending below the cloudbank.

Kensuke practically erupted in Otaku euphoria, Oh. My. GOD! _Five_ aircraft carriers and two, three, _four _battleships! What a fleet!"

"That's right!" Misato said with a wink before turning round and sliding down the passenger side window. She half-stood up and leaned her head out, completely ignoring the position she was in and also whom she was now squashed over and effectively suffocating, "Hey, Trunks!" Misato bellowed over the sound of the blades and air current, still unaware of the shaking and now somewhat panicking form beneath her.

Trunks turned his head around at the sound of her voice, flying up to the window beside her, "What is it?!" He shouted, hands cupped around his mouth to block out the sound.

"We're coming in for a landing!" she shouted, her lavender hair whipping about her, "Better hop on board!" she bellowed, Trunks simply nodding in agreement as opposed to continuing to shout. He flew back slightly until he was alongside the rear side passenger window which Shinji then opened to allow him entrance.

"Had enough exercise?" Shinji asked with a smile as Trunks hopped down over him.

"Yup, nothing like a nice leisurely flight," he replied, stretching his arms and legs.

Shinji nodded, turning back to Misato "Uh huh. Well… Umm, Misato…" Shinji began, seeming a little uncomfortable.

"Yes?" She asked, turning round and leaning against her seat, unaware of the comically shaking small pair of arms at her sides which appeared to be changing to a rather disturbing shade of blue.

"Well, you see, It's just, could you move back ever so slightly? It's just… Erm," he coughed and just rolled his eyes, "You're _killing _Goten" he said, pointing down at her midsection. She looked down and noticed the pair of small arms sticking out, waving frantically up and down.

"Wha- _Oh_!" She exclaimed, pushing herself back away from the seat and releasing Goten who had had his head forcefully buried in Misato's somewhat ample cleavage for some time. The Saiyan pulled away from the Captain and scrambled up to the head rest, grasping hold of it and taking in multiple heaving gasps for air in an attempt to get some colour back to his cheeks.

"Hah… ah couldn't… ah… _breathe_!" Goten said, gasping from what he considered one of the most unpleasant experiences he'd ever endured.

"Sorry 'bout that, little guy!" Misato said, patting a somewhat irritated Goten on the head who merely pouted in response as he regained his oxygen.

"Kid," said Toji, his voice again laced with grieving envy, "give it half a dozen years, and you'll look back on this day as one you will thank the _gods_ for bestowing upon you."

"Wha?" Both Trunks and Goten asked in time with each other.

"Stop corrupting 'em, Toji!" Kensuke snapped suddenly, disguising his own envy by smacking his friend on the back of the head. Deciding he would no doubt have many attempts in future to ogle the NERV officer, and very few to feast his eyes on such a wonderful array of naval power, he immediately returned his gaze out the window.

"_A cute little boat_?" Toji echoed dryly, raising his eyebrow as he regarded the massive aircraft carrier they were descending towards.

"Wow, that's the pride of the U.N combined fleet; The super carrier 'Over the Rainbow'!" shouted Kensuke excitedly.

"It's not much to look at…" Trunks murmured as he leaned against the bulkhead, unimpressed by both the carrier and the other ships also; he'd seen more advanced fishing trawlers in his day.

"I agree. To be honest I'm surprised something that old still floats," Misato said, gazing sidelong out the window.

"Nah, "said Kensuke, eye glued to his camera, "It's a vintage model, from just before the Second Impact. They don't make 'em like that anymore!"

"Wow!" chimed in Goten, peering out from alongside Kensuke, as his wide eyes took in the sights below with customary childlike wonder, "Look at all the big boats!"

Shinji found his eyes trailing over to the large transport ship with its rear section covered in a large tarpaulin, '_So…_ That's it, is it?' He contemplated to himself as the helicopter swung in for its final descent.

On a platform overlooking the flight deck, a solitary figure in a yellow sundress stood with her hands on the railings, eyes trained on the descending helicopter…

"So, they're here…" She commented with a smirk before turning and heading down the stairs leading to the flight deck.

"Hmm," Shinji sighed, stretching as he dropped down onto the flight deck, Trunks hopping down behind him with arms folded behind his head, looking almost as aloof as his father would. A weary looking Misato followed suit with Goten leaping out next, performing a little flip in mid-air for good measure before hitting the deck in a run, excitedly surveying his new surroundings, though not as enthusiastically as Kensuke, who was gleefully documenting everything his viewfinder could feast it's electronic eye on.

Toji, on the other hand, now he was far more preoccupied with the pursuit of his precious hat, which had blown clear off his head the instant he stepped off the helicopter. His chase didn't last long as the apparel was stopped short in its bid for hat-freedom by a white sandal stepping down upon it.

"H-hey, leggo!" Toji grunted as he attempted to tug his hat free from the offending foot, which was in turn attached to a long, slender leg, which was again in turn attached to a very smug-looking, female EVA pilot.

"Well hello, Misato, it's certainly been a while, hasn't it?" asked Asuka of Misato, who was now standing next to Goten, with Shinji standing before them both, who was regarding the redheaded newcomer with slight confusion.

"Why yes, you certainly have grown some, haven't you?" Misato replied with a pleasant smile.

"Of course, my figure's filled out too," She replied with a smirk.

Shinji passed the girl a quick glance up and down as Trunks who, after seeing nothing of interest in their surroundings, joined them again. '"Well…she seems nice.' contemplated Shinji, still somewhat curious about the undeniably attractive girl who had somehow appeared out of nowhere on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean.

"So then," Asuka began as her eyes scanned the group, "_which one_ is this famous third child?" She mused, her eyes trained on Toji and Kensuke "… Ach Nein," said the girl with a groan of disappointment.

"Don't worry, Asuka," said Misato reassuringly, "It's him," she said, indicating Shinji, said pilot blinking in surprise as Asuka suddenly turned her attention to him.

"Hmm…" she hummed in contemplation as she openly eyed Shinji up and down, appraising him.

"Shinji Ikari, meet Asuka Langley Sohryu, the Second Child and designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-02," said Misato with a friendly tone.

"Oh, well It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Sohryu," said Shinji with a welcoming smile, bowing his head formally, slightly surprised with himself that he even had the guts to make such a pleasantry to an attractive stranger.

"Of course it is…" she said dismissively, still surveying him with unnerving scrutiny, "Hmm," she continued thoughtfully, cocking her head, "Not much to look at, is he?" She said, speaking as if the 'he' in question wasn't even there.

'Hmph, charmed!' Shinji thought sourly, making his own little mental assessment of the Second Child.

Shinji, unfortunately, found his contemplations cut short as an upward gust of wind swept by, sweeping up a certain girl's skirt and an overly revealing way. Asuka blushed furiously for an instant and, with a shriek of indignation, swung her arm around with almost Saiyan speed and brought it down in sequence over the cheek of the nearby Toji, a flabbergasted Shinji and an unsuspecting Aida who, in his defence, hadn't even been paying her the least bit of attention at the time anyway (one could argue this alone could have been what incurred the German girl's wrath).

Goten found himself edging back and hiding behind Misato's leg for safety, being somewhat sick of being slapped by female EVA pilots as it was. Trunks had seen the shadow of her hand descending out of the corner of his eye and simply stepped back out of the way without paying it any heed.

"What the in the _hell_ was that for?" Toji barked.

"That was just my little viewing fee, quite a bargain, isn't it?" asked the girl with sickening sweetness and, before Toji could make a retort, her eyes fell on the purple haired boy standing nearby with a smug smirk on his face. Grinning, she added, "Oh, _look_… I missed one," she said with undisguised malice, "Can't have freeloaders now, can we?" She finished with that same hint of cute venom as she rounded on Trunks and raised her hand, a slight grin on her face.

Trunks slowly turned about to look directly at her with a blank expression on his face, as if the mere effort of having to direct his attention was tiresome to him. As she pulled her hand back to strike, he suddenly spoke in a calm tone, "Trust me… You really, _really,_ don't want to do that, little girl."

Asuka's thought processes stalled with enough force to give her the mental equivalent of whiplash, '_Little… Girl_…' she contemplated with seized up indignation, her face melting into an open sneer, "Why you little-"Asuka growled, her flat palm clenching into a white knuckled fist, said act causing Trunks' face to melt into an amused smirk that wouldn't have been out of place on his father's face. Suddenly Misato's voice cut between them like a blade.

"_Asuka!_" Misato suddenly snapped, her eyes locking with the redhead's and holding them there, "_D__on't,_" she said in a low and stern voice, and it was obvious this wasn't a request from a friend; this was an order from a superior officer.

Misato was, on the inside, actually quite terrified, as various scenarios of how the next few seconds could play out shot through her head, 'That's all I'd need when I got back; "Oh the mission went fine, Commander Ikari, sir. Oh wait, I forgot; Asuka picked a fight with Trunks and it didn't end too well for her, she should be out of intensive care in a year or so, but apart from that… Great! I'll pick up my redundancy package at the door, shall I?"' Misato contemplated with exasperation whilst somehow managing to hold Asuka with her stare until she reluctantly pulled back, the German girl refusing to allow a total loss of professionalism to overtake her.

Trunks shrugged, resting his hands on the back of his head, as if to say 'fair enough, I win…' and walked off with an air of smugness, not noticing the second child slide her foot out in front of him, the unsuspecting boy tripping forward and landing flat on his face on the deck plating with a noisy _clank!_

"Asuka!" Misato gaped.

"Oh, I'm so _sorry_," said Asuka in what could only be described as a most unapologetic tone, "my foot slipped." Through her momentary smugness however, she didn't have time to notice a somewhat angry Trunks flip himself around onto one hand and swing his small foot round, swiping the unsuspecting Second Child's legs from under her.

"So did mine!" He shouted at her, before flipping himself back up and walking off, rubbing the small red mark on his forehead as he went.

Asuka pulled herself up to her feet, steadying herself with difficulty and brushing herself down, one hand going to her tailbone, where she would no doubt soon be sporting a very impressive bruise. She turned to Misato, who now had her arms folded and her head cocked at her admonishingly.

Asuka rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I've heard the rumours," she breathed in a defeated tone as she approached the Captain.

"Well that's what you get, Asuka." She chided.

Asuka snorted with a "Humph," before returning to business at hand, "Off to the bridge, I presume?" she enquired.

"That's right. Always best to get formalities out of the way first." She replied, and suddenly noticed Goten; who was still hiding behind her leg, his hands gripped tightly onto the hem of her miniskirt. She turned round and smiled warmly down to him, "Hey there, why don't you come out and say hi, I'm sure she won't bite… or _slap… __right Asuka?_" and no, the last part wasn't a question, the redhead replied anyway with another short 'humph'.

"R-right," he stammered as edged out from behind the Captain's thigh, her hands resting reassuringly on his shoulders as he stepped out in front of Asuka, who quirked up an eyebrow at the sight of the small boy, "H-hi there, my name's Goten," he paused, bowing formally, "pleased to meet you, ma'am," he finished, swiftly backing up to Misato's side, who patted him once on the shoulder.

Asuka grumbled, somewhat upset that she found herself unable to remain angry at this one, "Another one, eh? Well at least _one_ of you has some manners," She said, her eyes following Trunks as he walked about the flight deck.

"Yeah, well," Shinji began, inclining his head, "You _did_ kind of bring that one on yourself," he said, not realising until after the last syllable left his mouth and Asuka's sapphire orbs flashed with sudden anger, that this was a marginally unwise sentiment to express.

"_Oh, _is that so?" she shouted rhetorically, Shinji shrinking back suddenly, ""Why don't you just pick up his tab, then!"

A smack like a thunderclap echoed across the flight deck, both Misato and the flight crews, who had been looking on, winced in sympathy.

Asuka said nothing more as she turned around and headed towards the bridge, shaking her stinging hand slightly at her side.

Shinji cradled his cheek for a second before narrowing his eyes after her. Misato was about to say something to smooth out the situation with a smile as she examined Shinji's cheek, but was interrupted by the pilot himself as his glare became an open sneer, a look the captain had never seen on his face before, and it gave her pause to say the least.

"_Bitch,_" he murmured under his breath, before heading off also and leaving a somewhat stunned Misato in his wake. Shinji very rarely actually allowed his dislike of anyone actually show on the surface in the past, never mind openly cursing him. To her mind the worst he'd ever heard from him was when he referred to his father as an 'idiot' and even that seemed extreme to her.

She watched him for a second as he walked off, 'seems events really have had an impact on you, haven't they, Shinji?' she thought with some melancholy before pushing it out of her head as she let out a long, tired sigh, rubbing her temples to avert the headache she could feel coming on, "Oh, so much for my healthy and happy introductions between co-pilots," she said, hanging her head, Goten reaching up an patting her on the back with a small consoling hand.

"Don't worry, Miss Katsuragi! I'm sure they'll learn to get along!" Goten said in his usual optimistic way.

"Hope you're right, kid…" She said, smiling weakly and rustling his hair with one hand.

"Let's go then, let's go!" Goten said excitedly, running a circle around her before running off after the others with Misato following just after, her eyes resting on the small Saiyan, her smile growing 'And then there's you… I guess it just shocks me how someone so genuinely innocent, care-free and light-hearted can exist in this world or any other, and just like his father… How I envy you.' And with that, she took a calming breath, put her professional face back on, and headed for the bridge to meet the fleet's commanding officer.

The admiral, a stout, old and obviously world-weary sailor, was not impressed with NERV's imposition on his command, "_Well_ then, _Captain Katsuragi,_" he began, his tone not carrying much in the way of respect, "before your group's little escapade on my flight deck I had assumed you were the _leader_ of this boy scout outing. It would appear I was mistaken." said the old man, more than a note of agitation in his voice.

"And _thank you_ for your assistance in the marine transport of EVA Unit-02," Misato said, maintaining her professional front and not rising to the bait of the man's disrespect, no matter how tempting it may have seemed.

"Oh yes, and _thank you,_ my dear, for allowing us the pleasure of babysitting so many _more_ children," The admiral retorted as his eyes shot from Shinji, to Kensuke, to Toji, to Goten and finally to Trunks, who had chosen to take position at the entrance of the bridge and wasn't really taking any notice of the proceedings as he slouched against the doorframe, effectively blocking the entire door in the progress, not that he really cared.

Trunks was choosing to ignore the foolish spat between NERV and Navy officers as they argued over EVA possession, combat protocols and such, and was pretty much on the verge of walking off and going for a little leisure flight again, if he hadn't found himself face to face with a strange looking man with a ponytail and some noticeable stubble on his chin, who Trunks noticed, was eyeing him curiously.

"Umm, hey there, Mister," Trunks offered a little unsurely to the man, who offered him a quick roguish smile before turning to monitor the conversations in front of him for a moment before actually making his presence known.

"Well, well, well. I see you're just as confident as always," announced the man with a slight smirk.

"Kaji!" exclaimed Asuka with undisguised glee, clapping her hands together.

"Mister Kaji," said the admiral with exasperation, "I must insist that you stop inviting yourself onto the bridge like this!" he said, his words seeming to fall on deaf ears with the eternally unshaven man, who was now leaning against the doorframe above Trunks, grinning as he winked at the others. Trunks backed away from the door to join the group, who now eyed the newcomer curiously. This was with the exception of Misato and Asuka, Asuka having a look of undisguised glee and admiration. Misato, well, _Misato_ had the same look on her face that you might expect on someone who had just stumbled across a sack of drowned kittens in a river…

_Meanwhile, in the depths of the ocean.._.

On a bed of the sand, surrounded by coral, a small indistinct white chrysalis sat which, under any other circumstances, could have been mistaken for a large pearl. That was of course until it began to glow and pulse as the boundaries around it cracked open.

And then it began to grow.

Gaghiel knew it was not his true time for being, but he had heard the weak call of his Father somewhere near.

The Call, it was all that mattered.

The new-born could also sense the shunned feeling of the Lillim's creation -the dark shadow of the father. If an Angel could feel detest, then that it is what it was feeling now, but that was not its concern, said concern being its one burning, insatiable desire to free its father from the Lillim's bonds and obtain true unity…

Later on, in the ship's mess hall…

All eight were sitting at a long dining table with Misato and Kaji on one end, Misato resisting Kaji's attempts to play footsie with a sharp kick to his shin, and Shinji next to Asuka. Opposite them was Toji and Kensuke, and finally, on the end, were the two little Saiyans sitting opposite each other, both currently in the process of wolfing down a somewhat gargantuan meal at blinding speed.

"So, Shinji," began Kaji conversationally, "I understand you're living with dear Katsuragi." He said, abandoning his under-table advances on the captain for now.

"Uh, yeah," Shinji replied uneasily, a little unnerved by the slightly predatory smile on Kaji's face.

"So then, tell me; is she still so… _wild in bed_?" He asked smoothly with a small grin.

"_What__?" _came both Misato, Asuka, Toji and Kensuke's simultaneous replies, frozen into a position crossed between shock and horror, with Shinji seeming oddly unaffected. Goten and Trunks paused with mouthfuls of food before deciding the outburst was less important than dinner (though to be honest, the Saiyans very rarely considered anything to be more important) and so both shrugged their shoulders and immediately continued with the task at hand.

"Just _what_ is being implied here?" shouted Misato, slamming a palm down onto the table, cheeks glowing dangerously red.

"Nope, same as always… right, Shinji?" Kaji said with a grin, turning to Shinji who was still smiling.

"I guess not…" he said, feeling it to be the only available answer. However, a tiny, quiet voice in the back of his head, a voice he hadn't heard from before, suddenly chose to inform him then he'd never had the chance to tease Misato before in his life, "But, umm…" Shinji began but was interrupted as Kaji's eyes suddenly went over to Goten and Trunks.

"Can I ask…? Is it umm- _safe,_ for them to eat like that?" Kaji asked uncertainly, pointing a finger at Goten.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a smile, nodding at Trunks as he swallowed a whole mouthful without even chewing, "this is them eating slowly."

"I'm shocked neither has _choked _so far," observed Kaji with a raised eyebrow.

Shinji, glancing back at the still shocked faces around him, found his gaze settling on Misato for a second, and then replying to Kaji in his usual polite way, though close inspection would reveal the corners of his mouth twitching into a very subtle smirk as he spoke, "No, _although_… Goten _did_ almost choke on a couple of _melons _earlier, but that's about it."

Misato's eyes went as wide as saucers as her mind processed what Shinji had just said and again she found herself slamming her fist into the table.

"Just what the hell is this, _pick on Misato day_?" She barked angrily, freezing as she noticed the look on Shinji's face. He had his fist in front of his mouth and seemed to be fighting the urge to burst into laughter…

It was a fight, much to the shock of Toji, Kensuke and the angry Misato, that the quiet teenager… lost miserably.

Shinji burst into a small laughing fit, hitting himself on the leg, finding himself almost choking on the sensation. Kaji, Toji and Kensuke, unable to control themselves, joined in on Shinji's burst of infectious laughter over the situation. Misato, shocked by Shinji's unseen behaviour, attempted her best to become angry, but felt it strangely difficult, but managed to ask calmly, "Might I _enquire_ as to what is so funny?" She said through her teeth, cocking her head.

"It's just," Shinji began, gasping for air and brushing away a stray tear, then continued "Ritsuko was _right,_" He paused to grin again "you _do_ go even more ballistic than me!" He finished with one last little laugh, regaining his composure.

'No, No, No. That didn't happen, did it? Could it? Did he just… Tease _me?_' Misato thought incredulously, then sighed in defeat, 'It's a nice start for you but still, I think I'll have to make you pay for that one when we get back, Shinji,' she thought, smirking slightly to herself.

"But still, Mister Kaji," said Shinji, "how did you know who _I_ was?" he asked to the older man, who was still smiling softly.

"Simple, really, after all, you're pretty famous in our business," He paused before continuing with a slightly admiring tone, "The Third Child who piloted an EVA with _no_ previous training and defeated an Angel in the process, your skills are pretty legendary, you know," he said, not noticing the scowl on Asuka's face.

Shinji found himself blushing slightly, Th-Thanks, I guess…" He said falteringly, not normally someone who enjoyed open praise from others.

"And of course I know our mysterious little friends here, too" He said, indicating the two Saiyans "Goten and Trunks; I hear you caused quite a ruckus in NERV headquarters. Blew away a few walls and even managed to get past an EVA in the process."

"NERV had it coming," said Trunks grumpily, pausing momentarily before going back to eating.

Kaji inclined his head, "Perhaps… and that's not mentioning what your fathers have done." He said, effectively giving the low-down on what he knew of the Saiyans.

"_An EVA_?" Toji gaped incredulously, staring at the two children, "Those kids managed to get past an _EVA?_"

"More like went _through_ it,'" Shinji murmured, unconsciously rubbing the back of his head and wrist as he recalled the memory.

"Yesh…Shorry 'bout zhat, zhinjhi," Trunks managed to say, his voice muffled through a mouthful of pasta.

"Those little _kids_…" Asuka intervened, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. Sure, she had read the reports of there being an incident between NERV and the Saiyans, but they'd neglected to inform her that the Saiyan children were at a level that made them a threat to an _EVA_.

"And you wondered why I stopped you from fighting him, Asuka?" stated Misato.

"No way…" she breathed.

"Yes way," said Toji, "that purple haired one can even fly, I saw it myself."

"You don't know the half of it!" Kensuke said, butting into the conversation, "Their fathers each took out an Angel single handily! Honest, they blew them away like they were nothing!" Noticing Asuka's rising shock, he elaborated further, not realising this was a part he probably shouldn't have mentioned that he knew about, "After Trunks got captured by NERV, his father blew a huge hole in the side of headquarters and attacked the Supreme Commander himself!"

"Umm, how do you know about that?" Misato asked with a raised eyebrow once the boy was quite finishing blurting out top secret info that even Shinji and the Saiyans had agreed to keep under wraps.

"It's umm, y'know, just rumours and stuff. You hear them in school… and… y'know…" he said, trailing off into unintelligible stammering, insisting everything he had heard was merely hearsay and had _nothing_ to do with _any_ kind of hacking into top secret NERV files, and how he _certainly_ didn't know quite a bit more than he should. Kaji hid a small smile as he contemplated the boy, laughing silently to himself, 'well, well, well, looks like we got another little spy in our midst. I'd best be careful or I might be out of a job' he thought with no small amusement, his eyes drifting to a wall clock and noting the time.

"Well, I gotta go, so I'll catch you all a bit later on," He said, inclining his head curtly before standing up to leave.

"Thank god," Misato muttered with slight venom just loud enough for him to hear.

And, Misato…" began Kaji, pausing on his way out the door, "If you're _that_ desperate, please don't go throwing yourself on seven year-olds for that kind of fun. At least Shinji here's over junior high age, I'm sure he can meet your needs in a pinch, eh Shinji?" He said, winking with a grin before spinning about and leaving Misato behind, who seemed far too paralysed with rage to come up with a retort. Luckily, Goten chose to help out.

"I'm _eight_!" he shouted through his food.

Misato slumped forward onto the table, grasping her head and looking distinctly ill whilst mumbling, "Bad dream, gotta be a nightmare, this is _not_ happening…" over and over like some crazed mantra.

Shinji, who had blushed furiously at Kaji's remark, chose quite wisely to keep his mouth shut; he wasn't quite sure just how much further his guardian could be pushed before she chose to draw her gun.

A little later on, the group slowly filtered out of the mess hall. Goten, Trunks, Kensuke and Toji had already left to go exploring and Asuka was nowhere to be seen either.

Shinji stood up and followed on after Misato as she walked out. His mind elsewhere, he didn't realise she had stopped somewhat ahead of him until he found his face bumping into an area of her body which had had one too many heads buried in it that day as it was.

"W-what? What is it, Misato?" he asked, staggering quickly back a pace due to the impact which he had to admit, unlike the last person to be buried there, he _could _appreciate.

"Your behaviour, Third Child" She said sternly, a single slender eyebrow arched up, and though truth be told she wasn't really intending to tell him off, and was more curious as to what could've brought on the change in his attitude. And, to her surprise, instead of the expected stammering of an apology or shy timid explanation, he just smiled coyly.

"Just thought I'd get even with you for all those times you teased me," He said with, unless Misato was extremely mistaken, was what almost seemed to be a note of smugness in his voice.

Misato got over her split-second surprise and, resting her hand on her hip, smirked right back at him, "Even, huh? Well I guess that just means I've got a lot of catching up to do then, doesn't it?"

"_Great_…" Shinji sighed, wondering just how worse he may have made things for himself back home.

Any further conversation was cut short as they left the hall and a voice called down from the top of the elevator leading up to the deck.

"Hey, Third Child," said Asuka as she stood waiting with her arms folded "_you're_ coming with me." Shinji considered debating the issue for an instant, but his cheek was still sore from the last time he chose to speak back to her, and wisely chose to clam up.

He blinked and looked sideways as Misato bent over slightly and whispered slyly in his ear, "Hey, looks like you're in there, Shinji. Go get her," She grinned, finding Shinji's sudden blush so intense she could feel the heat across the distance between them.

'so easy to tease' she thought with a catlike grin.

"Just one thing then, Misato" Shinji whispered, leaning back to the captain.

"What?" She whispered back.

"_Are _you wild in bed?" He whispered back innocently, the corner of his mouth twitching up just slightly as he spoke.

"Just _go_!" She groaned, shoving him onto the escalator and hearing the small laugh he gave out as she did so.

"I'll see you later then, Misato," he said cordially, looking back with a grin. Misato merely crossing her arms and looking away with a scowl, and the captain was more than sure she could hear him laughing even as Asuka dragged him off.

She stood there and waited for them to get out of earshot before letting her arms fall to her sides, a small smile gracing her face, "Damn… Guess Shinji wins this round." And with that, she turned and headed back toward the bridge.

On the Over the Rainbow's small motorboat used to ferry people between ships, Shinji Ikari sat in silence with Asuka positioned at the boat's rear by the engine.

The Third Child found his mind drifting back to Goten's words about friends and enemies as he watched Asuka steer the boat towards its destination. His eyes fell as he applied his words to his current situation with Asuka, someone he would now be most likely be going out and risking his life alongside. As it sank in he let out a sad sigh, which was somewhat more audible than he had intended as Asuka turned her attention to him, noticing him looking somewhat distant.

"What is it?" She asked, narrowing her eyes curiously. Shinji turned to look up at her with a weak smile on his face.

"I was just thinking," He began, averting his eyes as he continued "considering what we do and all; how the chances are that we'll be going out and fighting for our lives alongside each other," He said, pausing with an ironic grin, "We didn't exactly get off on the right foot, did we?"

Even as he spoke, Shinji couldn't help but question himself, 'why am I telling her all this, does it really even matter?' he thought as he rested his head in his hand and stared off, remembering his somewhat sour first impression of her and what hers obviously was of him after the whole 'viewing charge' incident.

Asuka stared at Shinji, dwelling on his words and how it made a strange kind of a sense as she _attempted_ to mentally reassess him, especially after his reminding her about what their future relationship together would no doubt entail.

"I guess," She replied with a slight obvious tone, "It wasn't my fault though." She added quickly, "If you lot hadn't been a bunch of…hrm…" She stopped herself with extreme reluctance when she asked herself, how she could really blame the wind on them or its subsequent actions on her skirt. She bit her thumbnail, frowning.

"I'm sorry about that, Asuka" He said, his eyes falling again, "A-And if you want to hit me again to make it even, go right ahead!" he glanced away to roll his eyes, 'Great, now I'm acting like Toji. God, what's up with me lately?' he thought with almost amused incredulousness.

"Hmmm…" hummed Asuka thought, observing Shinji through narrowed eyes as he kept his head bowed respectfully, '_Strange_… Oh well, I guess it can't _hurt_ to have him as more of a friend than an enemy, it would be… c_onvenient_, yeah that's it…' she thought, though her attempt at rationalising it to herself felt false even to her. Still, it was infinitely easier than actually admitting to herself what she really felt at that instant in the Third's presence.

Shinji winced in shock as she felt Asuka reach down and place a fingernail under his chin, tilting his chin back up to meet her eyes and, to his surprise, found a small smile gracing her features, "Apology accepted, Third Child," she said, earning a sincere smile from the boy as she continued, "You may consider us _reintroduced_, on the _right foot _if you will…satisfied?" She asked, cocking her head.

"Yes," Shinji said simply, nodding once and holding his smile for a second longer before turning away timidly, feeling a blush coming on.

Asuka continued regarding him as he looked sheepishly away, smiling, 'That smile… Meh, I guess he _is_ kind of cute –No, only Kaji is cute!' she thought, her brow scrunching up, her eyes drifting back to Shinji, '_Although_… still, he _is_ kind of –Stop it! Kaji's the man for us! End of story, case and point, full stop, end of paragraph, _friekin' QED!' _She paused to take several calming breaths, even as her treacherous eyes drifted again, 'No, no, _no, _stop thinking, damn it!' And so, as Asuka went round in recursive mental circles, she was lucky Shinji had returned his gaze out to the ocean else he probably would've witnessed her smacking herself several times on the forehead.

_Meanwhile_…

"Remember what I said, you two!" Misato called out to Goten and Trunks, who were now engaged in a friendly sparring match on the Over the Rainbow's flight deck.

Trunks rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, we remember; no energy blasts, no turning into Super Saiyans and no flying," he recited as they paused near the captain for a second, Misato returning his words with a nod before turning to Goten.

"I know, Miss Katsuragi," he began, pausing to blink, as if suddenly distracted, "I'm a better…person… as a…" Misato frowned as Goten trailed off, noticing both boys' attention seemed to be draining away to somewhere else.

She leaned down slightly, "Umm, are you two oka-" She was interrupted as the two frozen boys suddenly blinked in shock and spun about to face the ocean, eyes locked on an invisible point in the air. Needless to say, the startled look in the boy's eyes did not give Misato a good feeling.

"Oh no," said Goten quietly, "Not here…"

"W-What? What is it boys, tell me!" Misato she demanded, shaking them both by the shoulder, although to be truthful, and with sinking dread, she had a pretty horrible idea what the answer was going to be. And so, slowly, _very_ slowly, Trunks turned about to face her and, as he met her eyes, confirmed the captain's fears with one simple word:

"_Guess_…"

Toji and Kensuke approached curiously, noticing the strange behaviour from a distance, "What's up, Misato? Is something wrong?" Toji asked, watching as Misato's eyes swept the ocean and noticed how her left hand seemed to be gripping something inside her flight jacket.

"It's coming…" said Trunks in a voice as oddly calm as the surface of the ocean around them, Kensuke swinging his camera round and focusing in on the small Saiyan and then out at the sea the younger boy was so intently focused on.

"What? What's coming?" asked Kensuke loudly, sweeping the surface of the water with his viewfinder.

"An Angel…" replied Goten in that same calm voice, and yet the teenager noted the shift in the young Saiyan's eyes, as if some of his innocence had suddenly departed from him.

"Can you be sure?" asked Misato.

Trunks spared her an irritated glance, "Look, just 'cause I'm a kid it doesn't mean I'm stupid! I know what I'm sensing, Misato."

"He's right…" said Goten in a small voice.

Misato hesitated for an instant but, realising the risks of ignoring the warning massively outweighed those of acting on them, she made her choice, "I've got to inform the admiral," she said, and quickly departed for the bridge in a sprint.

Her dash was cut short as the ship suddenly lashed to the side, throwing the captain off balance as a violent shockwave rippled through the water. She watched from the floor as something invisible sliced through the furthest ship away like a knife through butter, causing a huge column of water to be thrust hundreds of metres into the air.

The Sixth Angel had begun its assault…

From the bridge of the Over the Rainbow, Misato, Toji and Kensuke watched the unfolding events with apprehension and growing horror. Goten and Trunks however had demanded to remain on the flight deck, even against Misato's protesting.

"It's strange…" contemplated Misato out loud as the underwater shape moved from ship to ship in almost methodical fashion, perfectly bisecting each vessel as it went, "it's almost as if the Angel were _looking_ for something."

"I must say, I wasn't expecting an Angel to attack mid-transit, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen, was it?" Kaji asked from his quarters, holding up the phone to his ear as he watched the Angel's movements out the window with his binoculars, almost painfully aware of the presence of the containment case resting on his bed.

"Well that's why Unit-02 is there," replied the commander calmly, "and I've graciously provided you with a spare pilot as backup along with a pair of Saiyans to help finish the job. Of course, should it be necessary, you could always escape."

"Of course I can…" Kaji half spat back as he eyed the sealed container to his left.

'Is it worth the risk staying? If they fail, all of humanity will perish if the Angel reaches this thing.'

It didn't take him a second to decide. Given the sheer danger of what might happen, even a 99% chance of success was not something he could risk when weighing up the lives of every man, woman and child on the planet against it. And so, swiping up the case and his personal effects, he headed swiftly for the auxiliary launch bay.

"So are we going to fight then, Trunks?" Goten asked uneasily, his eyes following the angel as it glided from ship to ship, leaving naught but flaming husks in its wake.

"I guess we-" Trunks was about to say more, but was paused as his senses flared and he turned towards the carrier ship, a wicked smirk tugging at his lips, "Scratch that, Goten, this should be more entertaining than just _us_ fighting it," he said, nodding at the covered ship. Goten followed his gaze and realised what it was Trunks was sensing.

"So we sit back and watch the show then?" Goten asked, cocking his head.

"Bingo, my friend!" He said as he waited for what was about to happen.

"Telex from the Othello! Eva Unit-02 is activating!" The communications officer shouted, gaining the attention of everyone on the bridge.

"What the-"The Admiral gaped as Misato ran up to the window.

"Alright, Asuka!" Misato cheered, her face pressed up against the glass.

"No, don't! Abort the EVA activation sequence! That's an order!" The admiral shouted down the communications microphone, Misato running up and engaging in an impromptu tug of war over the equipment.

"Don't listen to this moron, Asuka! Go for it!" She shouted encouragingly, the admiral knocking into her and grasping hold of the microphone whilst frantically trying to hold the captain's head away.

"That Damned EVA and its pilot are still under _my_ authority!" He snarled as Misato pulled herself back up and wrestled for the microphone back.

"To hell with you and your procedures, this is an emergency!"

"Damn you, woman…"

"You and your damn procedures," she cursed, their argument suddenly cut short by a nearby officer's observation.

"Umm, sir, ma'am, you _do_ know that Unit-02 is still using the B-Type equipment, right?"

"What?" Both Misato and the Admiral said in unison.

"If we fall into the ocean we're done for," Shinji's voice sounded over the intercom as it was keyed into Unit-02's comm system.

"Then we _won't_ do that," the readhead retorted.

"Shinji! Are you in there too?" Misato asked cheerfully.

"Yes ma'am, hi!" He called back in a slightly too cheerful voice.

"Two kids?" The admiral gaped, somewhat stumped by the situation.

"This is our chance, but they might need some backup," She said as she leaned over to the window and slid it open, "Goten, Trunks! Come here for a second!" She shouted, glad the boys had such good hearing as both, instead of running, took off into the air and flew straight up to the bridge and stopped dead, hovering in front of the captain.

"Yo!" Trunks said

"What's wrong?" Goten enquired.

"Listen up. Unit-02 is going to combat the Angel, but since it's using equipment that won't allow it to work under water, I'm going to need you two to back them up should they fall into the sea, got it?"

"Gotcha!" Both chimed simultaneously in response.

"Th-they're floating…" The admiral almost whimpered, releasing the microphone to Misato as he staggered back a few paces, his shock mirrored by most of the other officers on the bridge.

"Will you _concentrate_ already!" Misato barked at the stunned crew, who mumbled several things on the lines of apologies and returned to their duty.

"Asuka, move out!" Misato shouted, her confirmation coming through a second later, she turned back to the floating Saiyans, "Boys, get ready."

"Right!" said Goten, who quickly dropped down onto the flight deck followed by Trunks, and running back to their former position at the edge of the deck.

An instant later, the tarpaulin covering the Othelllo erupted upwards as EVA-02 gracefully soared free of its confinement, seconds before the oceanic Angel sliced through the ship.

"We've got less than one minute left," said Shinji, regarding the battery indicator as the red EVA landed on a nearby battleship.

"Don't worry, I'm well aware of that," replied the second child smugly.

"What's your plan?"

"Simple, we play a little game of hopscotch!" she replied with a smirk.

"_Hopscotch?_" Shinji gaped as Asuka spoke into the comm system.

"Misato, get the emergency power supply out onto the flight deck!"

"Gotcha!" Misato said, turning to shout the orders out.

The red EVA leapt up again with as much grace as one could when using a battleship as a stepping stone, leaping to the next until they were in decent range of the Over the Rainbow. The EVA crouched deep on the prow of a frigate and propelled itself upwards in a great leap, hundreds of metres into the air.

"All hands brace for impact!" The admiral shouted to the entire ship as the red behemoth closed on them.

"This is fun!" Goten said, enjoying what he thought was quite an exciting spectacle, quite oblivious to the large shadow closing on them from above.

"Umm, Goten…" Trunks said, looking directly up.

"What?"

"Heads up…" he said, pointing a finger straight up, giving both boys less than a second to leap about a hundred metres in opposite directions to dodge the landing radius of the red giant, which came crashing down into the flight deck, catapulting numerous jets and various other equipment overboard. Goten clasped his hands over his ears to block out the deafening crash of the landing.

"Watch it, you psycho!" shouted Trunks at Unit-02 in frustration, straightening his gi and watching as the EVA clipped the umbilical cable in place.

"Here it comes again!" Goten said, pointing out at the approaching shadow sweeping around towards them.

"Angel at nine o'clock!" shouted Shinji as the monstrosity closed in on them.

"Then let's slice us up some sushi, shall we?" said Asuka with a feral grin as the shoulder compartment of unit-02 flipped forward. Its hand drew back and withdrew the switch-bladed progressive knife, bracing its legs as the Angel charged them.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Shinji said as the Angel surfaced, allowing itself to be seen for the first time.

"The bigger they are…" Asuka murmured slyly a second before the Angel propelled itself out of the water and directly at the waiting Evangelion Unit, which immediately began grappling with the giant creature, attempting to tear it literally apart, accidentally dropping its progressive knife in the fray, which fell to the deck and sliced cleanly through an unfortunately placed jet.

"You're looking great, Asuka!" Misato shouted.

"This isn't some silly game!" squeaked the admiral, "Look at what you're doing to my flight deck!"

The battle continued as the EVA dug its claws into the angel's flesh. Things were going well until the EVA accidentally braced a foot down on one of the descendible launch doors, which as it turned out wasn't designed to take the weight of an EVA, which collapsed under the force.

The Unit staggered backwards as it lost balance, the leverage flipping the messenger backwards into the ocean, dragging the EVA down with it in the process, subsequently placing the Angel right back on top in the battle.

Meanwhile on the bridge, chaos was ensuing…

"Damn it!" cursed Misato, "How much cable's left?"

"Just under twelve hundred metres!" The officer responded. The cable spindle could be seen rapidly unwinding, the cable itself swerving left and right on the deck, slicing jets into the ocean like a sweeping blade.

"Oh great, what are you doing now?" the elderly admiral asked with a note of defeat.

"We'll _deal_ with it!" She informed, eyes training on the two boys looking down over the edge of the deck, 'looks like we may have to resort to our backup manoeuvre after all…'

"Shinji, Asuka! Your cable's about to run out, get braced for the shock!" she shouted, quickly straining her mind for a new stratagem, said thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the enthusiastic voice of Kensuke Aida

"My God, a Yak 38 Custom!" He shouted, gleefully pointing his camera out at the blue jump-jet rising up from the auxiliary launch bay, a familiar voice sounding out from its loudspeakers.

"Hey there, Katsuragi!" shouted Kaji in his usual cordial way.

"Kaji!" shouted Misato in a slightly cheerier voice than she intended.

"If you'll excuse me, I've just got to go and make a little delivery, so I'll be taking off now."

Misato's jaw dropped the jet took off, "I'll leave the rest of this to you, captain!"

"What d'you know… he ran away," Toji commented with a shrug as a furious looking Misato's eyes twitched with rage. With a shout of indignation she spun round and went back to the comm system as the next report came in.

"Target is approaching the EVA again!"

"It's coming round again!" Shinji shouted, watching as the Angel flew through the water towards them.

"Right, time to finish this freak off!" She growled, yanking at the control yokes, only to find the EVA completely unresponsive, "Damn it! It's not working, what in the hell is wrong?" she shouted, her panic level rising in direct proportion to the Angel's proximity.

"It's B-Type equipment!" Shinji reminded, "It's not designed to work under water!"

"Well what are you gonna do?"

"What am _I_ supposed to do?" demanded Shinji with disbelief.

"_You're_ the famous Third Child, do something!"

"Jeez… Fine, I _will_! Misato!" Shinji shouted.

"Shinji?" Came Misato's voice a second later.

"Unit-02 can't function under water! Get on to Goten and Trunks; tell them we need their help!" he shouted.

"_That's _your big idea? We ask a pair of preteens to help out?" demanded Asuka.

"That's right…" mumbled Shinji, waiting for Misato's reply.

"I'm already on it, Shinji!"

Switching to the loudspeaker control, Misato called out to Goten and Trunks, who were now hovering in mid-air over the ocean, looking down towards where Unit-02 dangled like a fish on a hook.

"Trunks, Goten! Unit-02 is no longer functional in its current position! It's up to you now! Do your little trick!" She shouted.

"You heard the lady, Goten." Trunks said with a grin.

"Time to fight?" asked Goten, perking up with excitement.

"Time to _fuse_!" he replied, "'cause I got an idea that just might work!"

"Let's do it!" said Goten enthusiastically.

Both boys drifted backwards, holding position in in the air above the flight deck, deciding that performing fusion on ground level would probably only add to the current level of damage.

"What are they doing?" asked Toji, "Why are they just hovering there?"

"Just watch…" said Misato, a smile gracing her features as the boys moved into a position two metres apart, hands at their sides.

There was a shunt in the air as both boys bodies erupted into golden fire as they powered up to Super Saiyan, equalising their power levels with practiced ease.

"That's incredible!" Aida shouted, his focusing his camera on the glowing forms.

Misato glanced sideways at the teen, "You are aware that there's not a chance in hell you'll be keeping that memory card when all this is over…"

"Yeah, good luck with that," mumbled the boy under his breath, having already backed up most of the footage to three different, and very well hidden flash drives.

"Well here comes the fun part," said Misato, gripping a nearby handrail for support, "Admiral, order all hands to brace for sudden shock."

"W-why!" he stammered. Between Angels, giant robots and glowing children, the old sailor was positively sure it was about time for him to retire, though judging by the billions of dollars' worth of damage done to the fleet in his care, he was pretty sure he was going to retire on a very slim pension.

"Just _do it_!" She snapped, finally done with the admiral's attitude.

"_Alright_" He sighed reluctantly, nodding to the communications officer for the order to be given.

"So what are they gonna do?" Toji enquired as he stared at the two forms.

"Fusion!" Kensuke commented from behind his viewfinder, "That's how they managed to…Umm" He paused as Misato turned and narrowed her eyes at him. "That's how they managed to do something I totally don't know about, and I don't know what fusion is either."

"Fusion, eh?" echoed Toji as Misato turned back to the loudspeaker.

"You're all clear, boys. Do it!"

The two Saiyan's changed their poise, beginning the motions of the Metamoran technique, "Fuu-" they intoned in unison, Misato's grip tightening up. Toji eyed her and chose to do the same for safety, Kensuke being far too involved in his filming to notice.

"-SION!" The boys finished as Misato narrowed her eyes to slits just in time, "-HA!" they exclaimed as their finger's connected in the air.

Instantly, a blinding ball of golden light erupted into life, encompassing the two children. The sudden force released sent the unprepared sailors crashing to the floor as the entire ship shunted to the side as if stepped on by an invisible giant. Kensuke found himself being hurled back into a bulkhead, knocking the breath out of him along with his ability to remain conscious.

Almost as abruptly as it began, the fusion was completed and the energy settled down.

An odd silence descended over the area, a light swirling breeze blowing outwards from where the two boys had been a moment before, a sound like rushing water in the air.

"Holy _crap,_ Misato! Thanks for the heads up!" snapped Toji sarcastically as he peeled himself off the wall along with the rest of the bridge.

"I did try and warn you," Misato said as she regained herself and walked out to the open window, pleased with what she saw. "At least this time you're on our side," she said quietly to herself as Gotenks, fully powered up to Super Saiyan 3, touched lightly down onto the surface of the ship.

There was a blur as Gotenks seemingly vanished, reappearing in the air in front of the bridge, hands planted proudly on his waist, "Gotenks, reporting for duty, ma'am!" He intoned, his dual-voice resonating.

"Th-they combined!" One of the officers stammered as he eyed the fused Saiyan.

"Well it's nice to finally meet you face to face," said Misato, slightly nervous to be in such close proximity.

"Man, that is as freaky as it is awesome," commented Toji as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Well it's nice to be here and all, but I can't stay like this for long," said the fused Saiyan, "I've got an idea. It's simple, effective and should work."

"What do we need to do?" Misato enquired.

"Just make sure EVA Unit-02 is either out of line between me and the Angel or at least to one side," said Gotenks, "I don't wanna accidentally blow up Asuka and Shinji after all…"

"And then?" Misato pushed

"Nothing then, I'll take it from there…"said Gotenks, uncharacteristically serious.

"Right," Misato said as she turned and re-established communications with the EVA, "Shinji, Asuka, what's your status?"

"Oh, we're high and dry… What do you _think_?" Asuka snapped, her voice laced with frustration

"Status on the _Angel_?" Misato clarified, rolling her eyes.

"It's… It's swinging round again!" Shinji shouted in sudden shock.

"It's coming right for us!" exclaimed Asuka in a somewhat high pitched voice.

The next few seconds primarily involved some panicky screaming and a certain mecha being bitten into by the Angel.

"EVA-02 has entered the target's body!"

Gotenks rolled his eyes and growled, "Damn it!" he cursed, "So much for my easy plan," which. as a side note, had pretty much been little more than 'get Unit-02 out the way and bisect the angel with a Splitting Headache Attack'. Gotenks cocked his head from side to side, stretching, "Guess it's time for plan B then…"

"And what's plan B?" said Misato, almost afraid to ask.

"_Charge!"_ bellowed Gotenks, who abruptly shot into the water like a comet after the Angel, leaving Misato to face palm herself for even bothering to ask.

"What fresh hell is _that_?" Asuka shouted in a deep panic, pointing at what appeared to be a glowing porcupine rocketing towards them at breakneck speed.

"Gotenks!" Shinji shouted, recognising the form closing in on them rapidly.

"Go-_what_?"

The Angel attempted to lash out one of its fins to strike, but missed cleanly as the Saiyan shot past the EVA and down the length of the Angel's body, grabbing hold of its tail fin in the process. The Angel's attempt to strike the warrior had weakened its grip on the EVA enough to allow the Saiyan to effectively rip it away from its captive along with several of its teeth.

"What the _hell_!" Asuka shouted as she felt a sympathetic scrape down her side as the Angel was pulled away from them.

"He did it!" exclaimed Shinji as Gotenks hurled the Angel down into the depths before curving back around and charging towards the sinking form of Unit-02.

Asuka and Shinji felt the force through the synchronisation of Gotenks impacting the EVA's chest area as he began pushing them up towards the surface at high speed.

"I'm gonna kill that kid," grunted Asuka, a hand on her abdomen as she found her breath.

"We have radar -02 is rapidly approaching the surface!" one of the com operators reported back on the bridge.

"That's good, right?" asked Toji.

Seconds later, the surface of the ocean erupted upwards as the giant form of Evangelion Unit-02 emerged, a golden trail visible at its abdomen.

"_Impossible_…" breathed the admiral as the EVA stopped, suspended in the air above the flight deck and was apparent that the four foot warrior had the mecha held above his head with one hand.

After catching his breath, Gotenks turned about and dropped the EVA down onto the ship before returning his attention to the ocean. He could sense the Angel in the depths, circling the remnants of the fleet below before veering off to head towards the call of its Father.

"Right, now to get the big guy's attention," he said, hovering over to the water's edge, tilting his body sideways. Suddenly, he swung back around and released a bolt of ki from his outstretched palm. His body blurred as he vanished and reappeared, firing blast after blast down at various points into the ocean.

After each shot, an upward fountain of water was released as it exploded deep below the surface with a muffled bang.

The Angel veered from side to side, rocked slightly by the explosions; though individually they didn't have enough power to actually penetrate it's AT field.

Deciding the form firing the makeshift depth charges was beginning to be a slight hindrance; the Angel arched about and shot towards the surface.

Gotenks smirked as the Angel erupted from the water underneath him, making to engulf him in its huge maw.

"Got you!" he cried, leaping up into the air in a spin, "Gotenks…Dynamite… KICK!" he roared, hitting the Angel under the jaw with a well-placed roundhouse kick, sending it skimming backwards across the ocean surface and landing sprawled out over a pair of destroyed battleships that had collided into each other.

As the angel rolled about to slide back into the ocean, Gotenks' aura erupted back into view as he spread his arms out, balls of blinding light shimmering into view in his hands, "Victory…**CANNON!**" he roared, thrusting his arms forwards and releasing a wave of brilliant yellow ki directly at the Angel.

The Angel slid free of the wreckage as the blast impacted it's AT field, punching clean through it. The force of the blast worked to flip the creature forward and back into the ocean, the energy wave managing to strike two of the rear fins still above the surface, severing them like a carving knife and releasing a torrent of blood over the water.

Gotenks stomped a foot in the air, pulling at his hair in frustration, "Gyahh, _missed!_"

Down below, the Angel had changed its priorities. Reorienting itself about, it charged forwards, deciding that if it were to have any chance of completing its mission, then the small non-Lillim needed immediate cleansing.

Gotenks shrugged, "Oh well, either way, it's time to finish the job!" He said, grinning widely before arching his back and inhaling a huge lungful of air, "Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack!" he roared, everyone watching in almost terrified awe as the long haired warrior proceeded to regurgitate what appeared to be a dozen congealing white globs into the air over the ship.

Seconds later the blobs, to the shock of everyone on the bridge, began to take shape and form into what appeared to be copies of the warrior who created them.

"Misato, "said Toji with wide eyes, "This is starting to get a little too weird…"

"Yuh-huh…"" Misato gaped, nodding absently. As far as she was concerned, Gotenks hadn't just jumped the shark, he'd burped up a ghost to do it for him.

"And, _fall in!_" He shouted, the twelve ghosts turning round and lining up as if on parade for their commanding officer. Gotenks hesitated, waiting for the moment.

"The Angel, It's swerved round and it's heading straight for us!" said the comm officer on the bridge.

"Gotenks!" Misato shouted with alarm as the Saiyan stood motionless.

"Wait for it…" he muttered, "wait for it…_and_…. GET'M GUYS!" he ordered, thrusting a hand out into the ocean.

The air was suddenly filled with gleeful squeaking as the twelve ghosts swerved up and shot down into the ocean, charging the Angel head-on.

The Angel, unfortunately enough, didn't have a clue about the nature of what was hurtling towards it and so, it took what seemed to be the most logical course of action: It opened its mouth and prepared to swallow the obstacles.

All twelve ghosts swerved as one and flew straight down into the unsuspecting Angel's throat.

And so, if Angels had last thoughts, Gaghiel's would have most likely been along the lines of 'boy was I _suckered_…' as its body convulsed from the twelve expanding points of light.

The creature's body swelled up as the focused explosive force of a hundred N2 mines erupted at point-blank against its core.

In a brilliant yellow explosion of ki energy, the Angel exploded, sending up a column of water almost a kilometre high like an aquatic mushroom cloud which crashed down violently over the vessels below, but luckily it couldn't really damage the remaining ships any more than they already had been.

Gotenks spread his arms out to embrace his triumph as the water washed out over the deck around his ankles. He turned about, crossing his hands over his chest and giving a double victory sign, grinning manically , "LL_Legend_!" He intoned and took a small, flourishing bow to his watching audience, '**DAMN,** I really am that good!' he mentally cheered to himself.

He cocked his head as the neck section of EVA Unit-02 slid forwards, releasing the entry plug, the Saiyan wandering over as the two pilots scrambled out.

"Well… That went well," Toji commented as he watched the remaining water crash down.

"'_Well?_" echoed the Admiral weakly as his eyes swept what was left of his fleet, reaching into his coat for his hip flask for a much needed drink.

"And one more Angel down," said Misato with a relieved smile as she watched Asuka and Shinji emerge.

"I swear it was an accident!" Shinji protested as Asuka climbed out of the entry plug after him as Gotenks approached.

"An accident, my butt! You didn't just brush against me, _that _would've been an accident, but you chose to have a pretty damn good squeeze too!" ranted Asuka.

"I thought it was the controls! It was just the position we were in _and_ you were sprawled out on top of me!"

"'Just the position," she echoed, "A lousy excuse! You could just _admit_ when you try to cop a fee-" Asuka's admonishing was interrupted by a quiet cough from her side.

"Ahem…" Gotenks coughed as he tried to announce his presence. Being ignored was something he really wasn't used to, nor did it turn out, was it something he liked.

Asuka yelped slightly, "W-what's that?" she gasped, stepping back from the long haired fighter.

"_That,_ Asuka…" said Shinji disapprovingly, "Is the person who just saved our lives," he explained as the boy powered down, Asuka flinching as his hair changed back to its black/purple norm.

"Okay then…_ Who _is he? And where in the heck did he come from?"

"You don't recognise me?" asked Gotenks with a smirk.

"I _think_ I would recognise _you,_" Asuka said, keeping a weary distance from the Saiyan child.

Shinji looked about ready to explain, but Gotenks waved him off, "Don't bother, just wait another twenty or so minutes and let her find out for herself," he said, walking off towards the bridge with his hands resting on the back of his head.

"W-what'd he mean by that?" stammered Asuka, watching the Saiyan walk off.

"Come on!" Shinji said with exasperation as he walked away from Unit-02 after Gotenks.

"Well, at least we won…" Misato said tiredly as the ship began cruising onwards towards its destination again, the sun setting in the distance.

"Yeah, thanks to you, little guy," said Toji to Gotenks, who was resting up against the guard rail.

"Yup, I'm just that awesome," he said, grinning happily.

"Suppose it turned out okay. Next time, however, I fight solo," Asuka said, turning round and heading off towards her room, Toji following suit, tossing an unconscious Kensuke over his shoulder whilst muttering something about Otakus and how the world would be better off without them.

This left only Shinji and Misato on the bridge as Gotenks shot off into the skies ahead, deciding it would be much quicker to head home under his own power.

"Well, at least it didn't go _too_ badly this time," Shinji said as he leaned over the railing, looking out over the ship as crews began efforts to clean the debris and leaking fuel off the deck.

Misato inclined her head, "You did well. I'm surprised you worked so well with Asuka, considering the introductions you had."

"Yeah well, we worked that out between ourselves in private -and don't tease on that, it was just a friendship thing," Shinji said waving a finger at Misato before she could retort, strongly aiming to keep them even on the whole teasing thing, at least until they got home…

Misato was pretty adverse to this thought, and so she decided to end the day with her on top, which was how she felt it really should be.

"So, Shinji… Not getting changed?" She asked, turning to the boy.

"Into what? My clothes are somewhere at the bottom of the ocean right now," He said dejectedly, beckoning a hand out in the direction the remnants of the fleet still smouldered as they vanished beneath the water, unwittingly moving the hands away that he'd been keeping crossed over his chest for one very important reason.

"Oh, that's alright…" Misato began, a grin spreading on her face as she eyed Shinji In that plug suit, "but at least let me compliment you on how well your _figure's_ filled out, Shinji," she said, giving the suit's protrusions on his chest a playful squeeze for emphasis.

"_Misato!_" Shinji squeaked, covering himself up in a way that was far more effeminate than he intended. The captain merely walked off, laughing to herself and leaving Shinji to wonder if he might just have gotten in over his head with his guardian.

Time would tell…

_To be continued…_

_-_XA-

[A/N] And thusly the tale continues. Must say it's been a while since I'd seen this chapter and it was a great bit of fun to revisit it, though I must say this fic is turning out to be far less than simple revision and is ending up as more as full on rewrite, which is why there may be a week or two gap between updates, so I hope you'll bear with me and let me know what you think as I go.

Coming up next time, we've got Asuka settling in, and Shinji begins to question just where his loyalties truly lie as Goku and Vegeta revel to him things he was never supposed to know whilst the next Angel makes itself known.

Coming up in the next chapter:

Chapter 9: Dual nature


	10. Chapter 10: Dual Nature

[A/N] Oh dear, I'm starting to remember just how long some of these chapters were, and still nothing compared to the later ones. I swear it's going to be much easier and probably quicker once I'm actually writing new chapters in full, but I'll handle that when I get to it. In the meantime, let us continue…

**Chapter 10: Dual Nature**

Albeit Rei Ayanami had a tendency, ne _talent_ for ignoring others, the presence of the Third child lately was one which she simply found herself unable to shut out or refuse when the estranged Ikari wanted someone to confide in.

"Oh, it's just too damn _complicated, _Rei," Shinji said, flicking his arms up in exasperation. He also had neglected to notice the fact that he had come to refer to her entirely on a first name basis.

Rei was currently sat in the eternal summer sun on her favorite bench, well… her usual bench anyway, which was pretty much enough to render it a favorite in her book.

She had several minutes ago given up on even attempting to focus on her textbook, and had instead taken to allow her crimson eyes to follow Shinji back and forth as he paced in front of her. 'Curious,' she idly wondered to herself, 'does this behavior assist in his thought process' she thought, never really grasping why people saw the need to walk backwards and forwards whilst trying to work something out.

It was almost as confusing to her as why Shinji thought she was an appropriate person to consult with in relation to his personal issues with the pilot of Evangelion Unit-02. She was not very well acquainted with the German girl, nor had her training involved any sort of course in relationship counseling.

Obviously Commander Ikari had thought such a skill to be surplus to requirements.

Recent observations had left her wondering if this was still true.

"I don't understand," she began after a moment as Shinji stopped and slumped down onto the bench next to her, "why does it concern you so?" she asked, flicking her textbook closed and setting it down on her lap.

"Oh, I don't know," he began almost dejectedly as he rested his chin in his left palm, "It's just, during the incident with the last Angel, I thought we'd managed to hash out at least _some kind_ of friendship, or at the very least some kind of kinship, but when it comes to Toji, Kensuke _and_ Asuka together, " he paused, shaking his head against his palm, "The three of them get along like dynamite in a volcano.

I just don't know whose side to take on this; Toji and Kensuke are effectively my best friends –oh, a-along with you too of course, Rei. But Asuka's my co-pilot on top of being a friend and… there's just _something_ about her that makes me feel, I dunno, _bad_ for doing anything that would leave her isolated." He stopped, growling slightly in frustration, "Damned paradoxes! Can't just _one_ thing be simple in my life?" he demanded rhetorically, turning his gaze to the pavement as Rei regarded him curiously. Now Rei, Shinji contemplated, seemed to be the only one whom he had finally found at least _some_ degree of solace in, to him she was like calm island where he could at last rest and take shelter from the conflicting sea of emotional waves around him. She never seemed to judge, never made him feel self-conscious, she only listened. She was… _safe,_ in his mind.

"It bothers you this much?" Rei enquired in her usual soft tone a moment later.

"It does. I mean, I was just thinking how much easier it would be if we were _all_ friends as pilots. I mean, " he paused, smiling ironically, "as Goten would say, it's better than being enemies," he said, smiling as his mind focused on the other kind of reassurance he felt when he was in the presence of the Saiyans. Though when you've got someone on your side capable of leveling mountains just by pointing at them and shouting really loud, it was quite difficult to feel scared.

"I see," Rei said, even though it was a blatant lie, however she had come to realize that any gesture of attempting to understanding the Third child's situation seemed to help set his warring mind at ease, the mere act of which gave the First Child a strange sense of warmth and satisfaction. She had come to _enjoy_ the company of the pilot of Unit-01 (and was in fact at least 80% sure that that was the correct adjective to apply to the emotion she was sensing -a personal best for her).

She spoke up after a moment, "So, you believe friendship with the Second Child would assist in our duties as pilots also?" she asked.

Shinji shrugged, "I guess it couldn't hurt. It would also keep her from trying to throttle me and labeling me as a pervert every time I look over at her and say hi when I'm with Kensuke and Toji."

Rei narrowed her eyes in thought, "Do you not therefore consider association with a fellow pilot to take precedence over that of civilians?" Rei offered, and was more than a little bewildered as to why her opinion elicited a grin from the Third Child.

"Come on, Rei. Being an EVA pilot isn't _everything,_ you know," Shinji said as he leaned back, unaware as to the small intake of breath this caused from Rei, nor the fact that she had turned her head completely to look at him with an avid curiosity.

'I do not understand, what can be more important than his duties as the pilot of Unit-01? He sounded so sincere also,' she contemplated as Shinji laid back into the shade of the tree, not noticing the sudden and abrupt arrival of Toji and Kensuke.

"Hey Shin-man!" Toji shouted suddenly, smacking Shinji on the back a lot harder than was necessary, the sudden shock causing the pilot to flail his arms out and slip completely back off the bench.

"_Owwch_," came the groan of pain from behind the bench, Rei arching her head about to ensure Shinji had not unduly injured himself. "Damn it, Toji!" Shinji snapped as he pulled himself back into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his head.

"Did you get that one, Kensuke?" Toji said with a grin, turning to his friend.

"Yup, totally going in my latest clip compilation," The other boy said with a smirk as he snapped shut his ever-present camera.

"That wasn't funny, you know…" Shinji mumbled, sure he'd soon be sporting a nasty lump.

"Yes it was," Toji corrected simply as he slid round and dropped himself down onto the bench between Shinji and Rei, Kensuke following suit taking a seat on the other side of Shinji.

"So, Shinji," Kensuke murmured, smirking, "Having lunch with your _girlfriend _again?" he finished in a conspiratorial tone.

"Yeah, "said Toji leisurely, inclining his head, "you two actually make _quite_ the couple," Toji added in the same tone as Kensuke, Shinji's face reddening in response.

Shinji sputtered, "W-We are not a _couple_! Sure, she's a girl and she's a friend, but she's not my _girlfriend!_" he objected, blushing profusely.

"Whatever," dismissed Toji, who turned his attention to the girl next to him, who had returned her gaze forward and appeared to be paying no further attention, "And how are you today, Miss Ayanami?" he asked with due politeness.

"No problems," she answered simply, only her eyes focusing on the teen to show she was talking to him.

"Uh-huh, just out spending some quality time with your boyfriend, eh? I understand…" he said sagely, Shinji's jaw dropping as he blushed to such a shade of red it made one wonder if there was enough blood left in the rest of his body to allow it to continue functioning. He wasn't able to reply before Rei, to his surprise, spoke first.

"_Boyfriend,_" she echoed, tilting her head to look at Toji, I do not understand the term." She intoned in her usual quiet way, and was unable to catch the split-second and almost calculating smirk that appeared on Toji's face.

"_Well_…" Toji began, standing up and coughing once to clear his throat, and Shinji could've sworn the teenager was doing an imitation of their teacher right before he went into one of his lectures.

Given the context, he concluded that that couldn't be a good sign.

He began to pace somewhat in front of the bench, rubbing his chin as he began to speak in a quick and explanatory tone, and it was clear to Shinji he was indeed mimicking his teacher. Still, Rei regarded him with her full attention, "A boyfriend is the term given to the companion of his respective _girlfriend,_ of whom both have chosen to share a close romantic and emotional bond, deeper than normal acquaintances, and spend excessive amounts of time together in order to deepen said bond, this possibly progressing into physical and sexual relations at a later point, a bond of this sort is usually only created when the two respective partners share common interests, traits and feel comfortable in one another's presence and often feel comfortable in expressing their feelings an anxieties to each other," Toji finished, taking another subtle breath, at least Toji thought it was subtle; It actually came out as a heaving gasp for air like a swimmer who'd been under water for a whole minute. Toji turned about, folded his arms and sat back down, nodding once in satisfaction.

Shinji's head turned slowly round, his eyes narrowing, "Tell me; how long did it take you to write, memorize, and plan all this out." He muttered.

Kensuke shrugged, "About three hours." He said, causing Shinji to smack his palm off his forehead with a groan; though it wasn't as though his face could be made any redder than it already was.

Toji shrugged, "Hey, can't scold a guy who's just trying to help his friend get some…" He said, stifling a small laugh and eliciting another groan from the Third Child and, before any other comments could be made, or before Shinji could try and rectify the situation, the school bell chimed, signalling the end of lunch. Toji, Kensuke and Shinji jumped up and headed for the gym changing rooms, the third of which muttering under his breath as he went, not noticing Rei was still sitting in her previous position, clearly deep in thought as, surprisingly, Toji's little conspiracy worked; as it just so happened the jock had managed, with uncharacteristic cunning, to tailor his explanation of romantic involvement so perfectly to the First's thought processes, that soon she would be reconsidering just what her relationship with the Third Child actually was…

And _none_ could have guessed that this might turn out to be one of the most eventful gym classes in the history of Tokyo-3 municipal high…

-Z-

"Ahh, nothing like a calm day off doing absolutely nothing…" Goku said, sighing happily as he laid back in the grass under the open sun.

Vegeta scoffed, "There's nothing like it because there's absolutely nothing _else_ that you do", he grumbled, returning his attention to reading all the 'borrowed' data from the worldwide MAGI Network, which he had been glued to pretty much all night and, needless to say, the Saiyan prince found some of the more (well, _extremely_) classified files highly…Interesting.

Needless to say, Bulma's search and filtering algorithms had done a fantastic job or sorting through the data. Not that it took that much ingenuity; the chances were, the more heavily encrypted a file or database was, the more enlightening it would turn out to be.

As he normally did after a large dinner, Goku was settling down for his afternoon nap as he stared upwards, pulling himself up slightly to rearrange the grass under his head before laying back down again.

A split second after lowering his head, a small yellow ki blast skimmed straight above his face, taking out a small chunk of his hair spikes as well as a layer of skin from the tip of his nose.

"Woow!" Goku said in shock, pulling himself right up. The small ball of energy was closely followed by the speeding form of Goten, who was zipping left and right as he dashed across the planes, closely pursued by Trunks, who flew down low in pursuit, the grass just skimming his gi.

"You're not getting away from me this time, Goten!" Trunks called as dropped to the ground, dashing after the retreating form.

"You're just not fast enough, Trunks!" He replied, turning his head about to stick his tongue out at his pursuer before picking up speed.

"Oh yeah?" he asked with a smirk before drawing a hand back, the palm glowing yellow, "Guess I'll have to slow you down just a little bit then, _won't I_?" He shouted and thrust his hand forward, releasing another energy blast, this one noticeably more powerful, and just so happened to be homing in on Goten's ki signal.

"eep!" Goten squeaked as he noticed the energy ball trailing him unwaveringly.

Goku had now stood up to watch the proceedings, grinning as he noticed his son's predicament. His amusement quickly faded as he noticed Goten was running right in his direction.

"Watch it, Dad!" Goten shouted as he ran faster, leaping into a somersault over his father's head to avoid collision before carrying on running.

Goku turned round to watch his son's continuing retreat, the ki blast carrying on toward on intended target, heedless of what may or may not now be in its path. Goku turned about to watch Trunks at this point and then, seeing what was coming, had just enough time to realize that the formerly mentioned ki blast's path was something he now was standing in, and barely enough time on top of that to relish the fact there wasn't enough time to dodge.

The bolt struck Goku head on and sent him skidding onto his back several meters away.

He looked up just in time to see Trunks leap over him and take to the skies above Tokyo-3, following Goten as they continued their training game.

"Sorry 'bout that!" Trunks' voice trailed back as he powered up and shot after Goten.

"Ooouch!" Goku groaned, rubbing his head as he uneasily pulled himself up onto shaking legs.

"Hmph, _amateur_…" Vegeta grunted, turning immediately back to his screen, a smirk tugging at his lip a second later; seeing Kakarot getting knocked on his ass always seemed to be able to make him smile.

Goten could only be seen as a blur as he dashed over the rooftops of Tokyo-3, jumping from bulidign to the other as if there were no gap.

Glancing back and up, he noticed Trunks closing in from the air. The younger child had chosen this strategy primarily because he knew Trunks couldn't very well go hurling balls of energy at populated buildings (at least…he _hoped_ he wouldn't), so he knew this would end up turning into a ground race after all.

"Thinks he's getting away, does he?" Trunks lamented as his flailing hair stiffened and erupted into a blaze of blonde as he powered up to Super Saiyan and shot straight downwards after Goten.

"_Uh oh!_" Goten yelped, not needing to look back to know what Trunks had just done. The younger warrior skidded to a halt, coming about and transforming himself before charging upwards head-on at the closing Super Saiyan.

"Well, looks like this is gonna be even more fun than I thought!" said Trunks, grinning as the fighters made contact and immediately began throwing flurries of preposterously fast punches and kicks at one another as they began their fist fight over Tokyo-3. "The rules still stand, Goten!" Trunks managed to get out as he blocked a right knee to the solar plexus from the younger warrior.

"Yeah, I know! First one knocked to the ground loses!" Goten replied quickly. The game had been going on pretty much all morning, and had been quite tame until after lunch when each began using retreat strategies to catch the other off guard, eventually turning into a full on training battle.

_-Z-  
_

_Meanwhile, hundreds of meters below…_

"What on earth is that?" asked Class representative Hikari Horaki as she climbed out of the pool, looking up at the sky through the chain linked fence that surrounded the area, having been curious as to what seemed to have caused every other member of the class to abandon their appointed exercises in order to gawk up at the sky. It wasn't the fact the class was looking that had truly caught her attention, it was the fact that Rei Ayanami had also turned her head and and was now standing up, curiously watching whatever it was up there 'she barely even moves from that fence during swim class when she's not in the pool. It must be something big to catch _Rei's_ attention'

The class rep's thoughts halted as her eyes caught sight of what was in the sky; two balls of yellow fire were zipping and swirling about in the air, clashing off each other and occasionally intermingling.

"Is that-" Toji began, his eyes straining to confirm what the anomaly was.

"Goten and Trunks? Yup," Kensuke said, his camera's enhanced zoom facility managing to focus in enough on the two figures as they continued their training fight, both Toji and Shinji leaning back to look through the camera's LCD screen.

"Will ya stop moving it around so much?" complained Toji.

"I can't help it, they're moving too damn fast!" Kensuke replied desperately as he tried his best to keep his camera focused on the two combating Saiyans. Unfortunately, keeping something in frame whilst being zoomed in at a distance was a chore for even the most experienced cameraman, the fact that the two somethings in question also happened to be two very small, very fast moving objects didn't help much either.

"But why are they fighting _each other_?" Toji asked with a frown.

"I think they're just playing," said Shinji as he turned away from the camera and leaned back to look up, the fight getting dangerously close overhead and so could almost make out the two figures without the need for the camera.

"_Playing?_" echoed Toji with disbelief as the camera caught sight briefly of Trunks kneeing Goten in the gut.

Shinji shrugged, "Well they do all that martial arts stuff so obviously they have to train," Shinji commented, Toji cocking his head in acceptance of the explanation.

"Wow, Look at the speed of 'em! I can barely keep up. I have to zoom out just to keep them in frame!" Kensuke commented as he recorded the fight as best he could, which wasn't very well considering he was trying to film a pair of fast moving Super Saiyans, the end result would probably be something that would make even a UFO fanatic giggle.

"W-which one's winning?" Toji asked, tilting his head.

"Well, apparently Trunks is slightly stronger than Goten. So I _guess_ he's got the upper hand," responded Shinji, squinting his eyes against the blue sky as he tried to follow what was happening above.

"I _think_ he's right," said Kensuke unsurely as he managed to capture an image of Trunks landing a strong right fist into Goten's chest followed by a fast kick to his hip.

Up above at the pool where, due to the elevation and the two forms continuously descending as they fought, the view was slightly better.

Rei stood watching the fight with a sort of detached interest, 'Goten…' she contemplated, being sure about the identity of one of the glowing forms and therefore, by process of elimination, was sure the other one had to be Trunks.

"Looks like Aida and Suzahara weren't lying after all," One of the nearby girls could be heart muttering.

"You mean those golden fighter things are _real_?" A second replied.

"Ya think they're some kind of NERV experiment or something?" A third girl added.

"_Could be_..." the second girl replied, Rei's eyes flicking to them as for an instant before returning her attention upwards.

"_Great_, looks like the freaks are at it again." said Asuka with slight derision as she watched the fight, her words catching the attention of the gossiping teenagers nearby.

"You mean you know what those are, Asuka?" One girl asked excitedly.

"_Are_ they some kind of freaky NERV science project?" another asked.

Asuka shrugged, resting her hands behind her head, "I can't talk about classified stuff, but I can tell you this; they don't work for NERV," she explained.

One of the girls blinked in shock, "Y-you mean they're some kind of _aliens_ or something," she stammered.

"No one knows for sure, they just kind of appeared around the same time the Angels did," she replied distantly, never taking her eyes off the fight above.

"W-what if they're like _working_ with those Angel things?" One girl hypothesized worriedly.

"I doubt it," scoffed the Second Child in response, "especially considering they've already helped us cream _three_ of those giant eyesores into oblivion already."

"_Wow,_" the girl sighed simply in response.

"You mean they're some kind of mysterious super heroes or something!" Another said somewhat dreamily, her hands clasped excitedly together.

"Like I said, I don't know. No one does, except themselves, and maybe the Third Child too," she explained, mentioning Shinji's title in her usual disrespectful tone, her eyes drifting to him suspiciously, having heard the Saiyans had had more contact with the male pilot than anyone else.

What followed was the expected flurry of gossip and theories amongst teenage girls after some dirt had been ditched, dividing their attention between each other and the light show happening above.

They watched as one of the balls of light –Trunks in this case— retracted, and then bounced against the other (Goten), knocking him back about twenty-five meters.

"I wonder what they look li-" One girl began, but was interrupted as a bolt of light shot out from Trunks and struck Goten, releasing a deafening explosion over the skies just above their heads in a sphere of brilliant energy. The girls screamed and the boys below ducked to the ground as the force of the blast hit, the chain linked fence around the pool rattled in complaint as he shock wave passed over, even the ground trembled slightly under their feet, the only one who had remained stoic was Rei of course, whose only reaction was to scrunch her eyes a little closed and glance slightly away from the explosion.

Silence fell again and, as they regained their composure, all eyes focused to find both auras so close they appeared as one. There was a loud _crack_ from a backhanded strike and suddenly the aura, to the surprise of all, appeared to spit out a form who shot downwards in a spin towards them at a quite disturbing speed.

"_Incoming!_" Shouted Asuka, and the girls around the pool scattered out of the path of the Goten-shaped missile heading right for them.

The Saiyan impacted the pool quite impressively, sending up a column of water and broken tiles almost seven meters high.

As the water died down, the swimsuit clad figures gathered slowly round the pool edge in a semi-circle around Rei, who was already there looking down into the water as the small orange and blue clad figure floated to the surface. He shuffled in the water, rolling over onto his back and spitting out a small fountain of water in the process.

"Goten, "Rei said with mild alarm, quickly reaching down to fish the boy over to the pool's edge and assist the staggering boy onto his unsteady feet.

"Ooouwwcchh…" groaned Goten as he massaged the lump that was fast appearing on his head, still wavering on his feet with one eye closed as he chewed on his bottom lip. He effectively just looked like any other eight year old who had just clonked themselves on the head and not one who had been hit in the face by an energy blast and backhanded into the ground from up in the sky.

"Are you injured, Goten?" Rei asked, placing a hand on his head softly to examine the bump she could feel forming. Quite frankly she was shocked his skull hadn't been cleaved open by the impact.

"RReeiii?" slurred Goten, blinking his eyes, "W-why are there six of you?" He asked. He clenched his eyes shut then shook his head from side to side, clearing his perception as the First Child came into focus.

Head clear again, Goten immediately reactivated his usual smile, "Rei!" he exclaimed happily, "I'll be fine. How are you? You don't have any bandages on any more."

"I am well, my injuries have healed," replied Rei in her usual way as usual as Goten looked left and right, just noticing that he was surrounded in a semi-circle by swim-suit clad teenagers who were now eying him curiously.

"Goten!" Came Shinji's voice as he scrambled up and grasped hold of the chain link fence for balance, immediately catching Goten's attention, who's smile widened slightly.

"Hiya, Shinji!" he exclaimed, raising a small hand in greeting.

"Ooh, a perfect excuse to ogle us girls isn't It, Shinji? Very sleek," jibed Asuka. Shockingly to her, it seemed to bounce clean off him as he responded not with a blush or stammer, but with a sigh.

"Get over yourself, Asuka." He said, barely glancing at her, "You alright, Goten?" He asked, turning to the Saiyan, who was leaning about Rei's leg.

"Of course!" He replied happily, giving the pilot a thumbs up for emphasis.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then," Shinji said, inclining his head curtly to Rei, who responded with a mute nod, before turning round and sliding down the concrete embankment and back to his friends, totally missing several of the adoring looks some of the girls gave him in his sports outfit but, as with most teenagers, attention was fleeting, and it quickly returned to the little Saiyan.

"T-that's one of them?" One girl whispered uneasily into Asuka's ear whist pointing down at the child, the pilot herself standing with folded arms as she regarded Goren.

"_Yes_," sighed Asuka dejectedly, "that's one of them." she echoed, rolling her eyes.

Goten's eyes flicked around nervously. He had always been shy around new people and never really relished being the center of attention. Sensing something was being expected of him, he shuffled his feet in front of him, thumbs twiddling together as he suddenly found the tiled floor a very interesting thing to look at, " I uh…that is… I'm very sorry for this," he said, bowing once respectively and finding his feet shuffling backwards as he took shelter behind Rei once more.

The girls around him went silent as they regarded the waterlogged chibi-warrior who looked on nervously, chewing his thumbnail. What followed was an odd chain of teenage girls somehow managing to voice each others thoughts, and would later leave Goten wondering if girls, unlike boys, had some way of reading minds. He had long suspected mothers especially to have this particular talent.

He's…" One began, trailing off as a small smile graced her lips.

"-He's so…" Another continued. Goten found himself nervously backing away from the strange group of creatures.

"Wh-what? What is it?" Goten asked, a half-afraid look on his face.

"He's so cute!" One of them suddenly shouted with sparkling eyes. This, combined with the simultaneous squee'ing noise the group somehow managed to emit in unison like some horrifying banshee, shocked Goten into staggering back, his feet not stopping until he realized the tiled floor had vanished from underneath him.

A loud splash echoed over the area as back under Goten went, adding sonic screeching to the list of terrifying powers girls seemed to possess as he sank below the surface.

There were several giggling fits from the other girls as Rei reached under the water with one hand and once again fished the Saiyan out of pool.

"You're such a klutz, Goten, jeez…" came Trunks' voice, the Saiyan in question standing on his tiptoes on the fence's corner post, arms folded, "Did you just _forget_ you could fly there?"

"Trunks!" Goten snapped, his face screwing up into a pout, "That was no fair, you cheated…_ again! _You said no more energy beams! You always lie about that!"

"And you always _fall for it_," muttered Trunks, looking away to hide his smirk.

"And you were flying away! The fight was over!" He added, stabbing an accusing finger up at his senior, who merely raised his hands above his shoulders innocently.

"Well, I'm _sorry if_ you misinterpreted my intentions when I started to fly away, Goten." He said, raising his eyebrows, "All I was doing was powering up to attack, I didn't mean to _deceive_ you."

And in that instant, God took a brief second out of his busy schedule to do a bullshit cough.

Trunks dropped down off the post and approached his friend, arms crossed with his usual air of casual smugness.

"Oh, look. They're both so adorable!" One of the girls sighed, a chorus of agreements from her peers following.

Trunks hesitated, suddenly looking quite taken aback for a moment, "_wha-?_" he breathed, then shook his head, dismissing it entirely, "Whatever".

"Oh _look,_ it's his significant other half," Asuka stated, still not really thinking of Trunks as someone to add to her Christmas card list, even if he did technically save her life.

"Oh, "said Trunks, barely glancing at her out the corner of his eye, "It's you. So what is it today, blue and white stripes again?"

The insult took a moment to register as the German's face flushed an angry red, the young Saiyan having rightly guessed underwear was an oddly sensitive subject for girls.

He returned his attention to his still dripping wet counterpart, "Anyway, Goten we gotta get out of here before-" he halted mid-sentence, and Goten became aware that his friend was looking past him and up at something up in the sky, "Uh oh."

"W-What is it, Trunks?" Goten enquired, tilting his head around to follow Trunks' line of sight until he saw what it was Trunks had spotted, "Uh oh" he echoed simply, as all the girls looked up and squinted at what was in the sky.

A trail of blue flame, not unlike the golden light which had surrounded the two children, was streaking through the air, heading right for them.

"Who's that?" asked Asuka, narrowing her eyes and raising a hand to block the sun in an attempt to identify the approaching stranger.

"I'm bailing!" said Trunks with no lack of haste, and quickly exploded off into the sky in a blaze of blue energy, the shockwave startling all the girls for a second before quieting down as the Saiyan beat a swift retreat, swerving to give the approaching form a wide, wide berth before shooting away across the sky and out of sight.

'Goku…' Rei contemplated as the unmistakable form became visible, his aura trail curling as he turned downwards into quick descent.

"It's my Dad…" Goten mumbled in answer to Asuka's question, his eyes down as he realized he was probably about to be scolded.

'So that's Goku then, is it?' contemplated Asuka, 'I wonder if he's as scrawny as his kid?' she finished, smirking slightly as the soaring figure arched about, shooting over the playing field and curved up into the air above them, his aura bursting away as the Saiyan dropped into free-fall from twenty feet up, landing in a slight crouch to absorb the impact before drawing himself up to full height.

Asuka swallowed as he eyes went upwards at the considerably taller Saiyan, 'Apparently… _not._'

Goten managed to pull his head up to look at his father as he approached him, the numerous girls about them parting like a jet of air through flame under Goku's serious glare.

"Goten," Goku said, his tone calm yet stern, "What did I tell you about fighting over built up areas?"

"I know, Dad, b-but it's not like we did anything wrong. We did like you said; not cause any damage or use any energy attacks!" Goten said in a mild protest, then glanced off to the side, "Well _I_ didn't anyways. And how come you didn't stop Trunks and tell him off too?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure Vegeta will give Trunks a good talking to."

-Z-

_meanwhile..._

"Good work, Trunks." said Vegeta.

"Thanks, Dad!"

-Z-

Goku rubbed his chin in thought, "But anyways, you both turned Super Saiyan and caused quite a shakeup. You should have been aware of the responsibility of controlling your powers if you're going to transform during training."

Goten's eyes fell, one foot shuffling as he tugged on the belt of his gi, "I know…" he mumbled, "Sorry, Daddy."

Goku let out a long, defeated sigh, smiling reluctantly, "That's alright, son. Whadya say we head back now and get you some ice for that bump?"

"Sure!" exclaimed Goten happily, instantly perking up. He trotted quickly over to his father's side, the older Saiyan dropping a hand onto his shoulder.

"Sorry for any trouble we caused," said Goku to the assembled class, inclining his head respectfully. He turned his head to the first child, "Miss Ayanami…" he said, nodding once more, Rei responding with a acknowledging inclination of her head.

"Right, let's fly!" Goten said as began tried to being levitating off the ground, only for the hand on his shoulder to keep him grounded. He arched his head up to look at his father, "What is it Dad?"

"Wait just a sec, Goten. I almost forgot the other reason I came," Goku said, turning his head down to the lower playing field area to the boy's class, who had stopped their activities to observe. His eyes traced the pitch, spying the person he was after, "Hey, Shinji!"

Shinji blinked in surprise, "Y-Yes?"

"Could you do me a favor and swing by this evening alone? Vegeta said he has something he needs to discuss with you. Something to do with NERV, or EVA, or _something_ _or other._ He sounded pretty serious."

Shinji looked apprehensive for a moment. He knew what Vegeta was capable of. Though it occurred to him that if the Saiyan had intended to reduce him to his component atoms, he would most likely have just flown over and done it by now.

And yet, knowing that, he still found himself with an ominous feeling of foreboding.

"S-sure, I've got nothing after school so I'll catch the bus straight up after." He called back after a second's pause.

"'Kay, See you then!" Goku said, waving once before turning to Goten, "Right, let's go."

Goten nodded, but noticed he was still being held by his Father.

Goku hummed in thought, "Umm, I _think_ it's best we slip out the quick way. We've caused enough of a stir as it is." He said.

"Gotcha!" nodded Goten as Goku pressed his middle and index finger to his forehead.

"Nice meeting you all!" said Goku, waving as both his and Goten's body shimmered for an instant before vanishing into thin air, leaving a group of stunned teens in their wake.

Once everyone else had regained the power of speech, the male teens immediately began hurling flurries of questions at Shinji about what had transpired, the teen himself looking like he wished he could just shrink into the ground and vanish.

The girls on the other hand ignored all the unimportant things, such as how they could fly, hurl bolts of energy, change their hair color and disappear on the spot like that, and skipped to the really important topic, which for them consisted of how dreamy Goten's tall, dark, muscular and mysterious father turned out to be.

Rei however had her mind trained on something else. Goku's words to Shinji before he had left had left her with a strange and barely noticeable twinge of unease in the pit of her stomach.

Shinji, however, was on a totally different scale in terms of being distracted; his body was working almost entirely on autopilot as his mind worked furiously to try and figure out what it was that _Vegeta_ of all people would want to speak to him about so urgently. He secretly knew that the Saiyans had gained some severe knowledge about NERV's workings.

His mind dwelled and dwelled in both fear and apprehension, torn between going and finding out what it was Vegeta had to say, or just staying in his room and forgetting what Goku had said; to face up, or to shy away?

And for some reason this dilemma triggered a sudden tear in his mind, as premonitions of what it could be he would hear and what he _wanted_ to hear filled his head.

'I am seriously screwed up…' he managed to sum up, struggling to think through the noise both around him and in his head.

And so, after a long and arduous day of never-ceasing interrogation by his classmates, the sun began to set over Tokyo-3 and an exhausted Shinji Ikari could no longer allow the now droning din of his teacher's lecture on the second impact to even reach his ears. His mind had one again become a wash of confusion over recent events that had occurred ever since his father had ordered him to go out and fight the Saiyans in Unit-01; the thoughts somehow subconsciously stirred up by Goku's comment for a reason he couldn't comprehend.

The two tearing sides of his personality raged away; between the Shinji Ikari that just wanted to give up and go with it, no questions asked, and the Shinji Ikari that had _seemed_ to have been growing inside of him over the last few weeks. And so, as this continued, his exhausted mind finally yielded, his chin slowly sinking down into his palm as he drifted into a deep, thought-clouded sleep.

_Meanwhile, in the messed up depths of Shinji's subconscious…_

Shinji's dream had begun, unsurprisingly enough, with him imagining the consequences of both going and not going to meet the appointment – one involving him, for some reason, standing in the cage in front of Unit-01, which then proceeded to morph into a hundred foot tall Vegeta for some reason and swallow him whole. To be fair, such a dream wasn't what he would even class as a nightmare level, just another 'oh great, so I'm dead now' dream…

He got those a lot.

He found himself surrounded in darkness suddenly, his mind torn, and suddenly he felt himself looking down upon himself. Or to be more accurate, at the two opposing sides of himself, regarding him from within the dark.

He watched dispassionately as the two opposing sides conversed. It was surreal even for him; the two voices _seemed_ to be coming from two separate places at once, and yet both also seemed to be coming from the same place. They both sounded like the same voice, or at least two people who sounded just like him.

Suddenly things blinked into vision as his mind gave shape to his surroundings.

From what Shinji could tell, one of him was speaking up at him from just at the bottom of the main entrance escalator at NERV headquarters and, for some reason, was still holding the tissue that Rei had given him. The other voice seemed to be coming from within a darkened train carriage with just himself as the occupant, the other him sitting in shadow and barely visible. Shinji oddly didn't pay heed to the fact that he seemed to be occupying both spaces, talking to both of the other Shinji's at the same time, his perspective flicking between them as needed.

Finally, he felt himself take some semblance of control of the area around him, the voices of the other two Shinji's fading away almost expectantly as he asked the one question that was on his mind:

"So what am I supposed to do?"

The shadowed version of him answered first, "Just go home. You're tired and you just need to keel over and get some peace and quiet. Just… let it go."

The other Shinji, the one standing in the light, regarded him, "You've got an appointment to keep, remember? Aren't you in the least bit curious what these people know about the organization we work for?"

The first voice chimed back in, "What does it matter? You're just one of their pilots. It's not like you can make a difference anyway. Just do as you're told, stop making ripples. Things are much easier that way."

Light Shinji spoke up again, his formerly toneless voice seeming almost amused. "Who are you kidding? Lately you've been just as curious as any one person could be as to what you're being used to do. And make no mistake, we _are_ being used. Do you really think letting that happen will earn you the respect you seek for yourself and from yourself?"

Shadow Shinji, responded, his tone listless and without feeling, "What does it matter if you can't do anything about it. You've seen what this sort of thing does to other people: constantly fighting for goals they'll never achieve and lusting for things they will never have. Do you really wish to be this way?"

Shinji himself returned his attention to Light Shinji, "Perhaps alone it would be hopeless, but do you forget what you have standing to support you? I would not call us alone," the Shadow Shinji seemed to be fading in the dark as its attempt to force Shinji's assertiveness back into its shell faltered.

The shadow's voice was loud now, but straining as if in desperation, "You can't trust anyone! All they will do in the end is leave you when you need them the most, no one really cares about you."

"Do you really believe that?" Light Shinji asked, and for some reason Shinji knew the Light fragment of himself was addressing it's counterpart. It suddenly occurred to him the reason for this was because it was he himself who wanted to ask it…because he wasn't sure even _he_ believed that any more.

The shadow replied, it's voice small, "You have to. This way you avoid pain…"

"And yet this way you miss your chance for happiness." The other replied, and Shinji realized it's voice was resonating now, because he and Light were speaking as one.

He was talking down to his own insecurities.

He liked that concept.

''It will hurt," Shadow said, looking up, and Shinji found himself in the carriage, looking down almost sympathetically at the form.

"Yet we will be loved," Light Shinji said from within Shinji himself, inclining his head.

"Is it worth it?" both Shinji and the Shadow version of himself asked.

"There's only one way to find out…" The Light replied with a note of amusement.

"You're unsure; you know you may find out something you do not wish to by visiting the Saiyans."

"Maybe we will, but in the end, we _can_ make a difference. You must not forget that there are always those that care for you waiting to catch you when you fall."

The shadow seemed irked, "Do they really care? _Who_?"

"Misato cares…" Light responded, his voice oddly serene.

"It is her job, you are nothing more-'

Light appeared to scowl, raising his voice for the first time in the conversation as he cut in, "_Pathetic_, do you really believe that?" Shadow made no reply, so Light continued, "Rei Ayanami, she cares."

Shadow appeared to look away, and if Shinji didn't' know better, he could've sworn he was pouting, "She was ordered to do so. Will she ever really side by you when not ordered to do so?"

Again, Light was ready, this time addressing Shinji, "Perhaps once before, you would may have agreed with this hypothesis, but what now?" an image of Rei's smile, accompanied by the memory of the soft feeling of her hand in his and the sight of the subtle blush on her cheeks flashed by.

"A deception…" Shadow offered somewhat lamely at this line of thought.

"_That_ is deception, albeit of one's self" Light commented almost smugly.

Shadow stood sharply to his feet, "In the end they _will_ leave you unless you pilot. _T__his_ makes you worthy; _this_ makes you valuable, "it said as an image of Unit-01 flashed through Shinji's mind.

"Do you even believe this to be true anymore?" Light asked quietly.

"If not, then why do you pilot?" Shadow demanded, "To prove yourself worthy to father? The one you believe yourself to be unworthy of, the father who abandoned you?"

Light narrowed his eyes, "No, that is not why you do it, is it? You once considered this to be a possibility, but now… _No_, you don't believe this anymore at all, do you?" Light paused, as if thinking alongside Shinji, "To protect… _Yes_… You admit yourself to be unsure about who your adversary may be, but you _will_ fight to protect, to defend…" Light offered, the pessimistic Shadow cutting back in.

"To _protect_?" it echoed, it's voice rich with contempt, "Who, your _Father_?" Shinji was shocked as his mind found an answer in Light.

"Yes," it replied simply, "I _will_ protect Father; I _will_ protect Misato Katsuragi; I will protect Rei Ayanami; I will protect all those that I care for, those that I…love." Shinji realised it was he who was responding directly and not the Light aspect his subconscious had generated, and understood why.

It was because he was making his choice.

"It will hurt," said Shadow, it's voice almost consoling.

"I know."

"Pain is bad."

"That is obvious, your argument is wearing thin." Shinji/Light replied somewhat smugly.

"But you can _avoid_ the pain!" pleaded Shadow.

"How?" asked Shinji, his voice almost sardonic.

Shadow replied, his tone weak and exasperated, "Just…run away. Run away like we always used to. If we do that we will feel no pain, no pain… Just run away," Shadow whispered, stepping to the edge of the darkness that engulfed it.

Shinji looked down at the dark form impassively for what seemed like an eternity.

"No." He said, his voice clear and unwavering and tinged with a hint of disgust at the prospect.

"_Why?" _breathed Shadow in a desperate grasp to comprehend.

"Why?" echoed Shinji as if the question were odd.

"_Because," _he began, but stopped as the carriage windows suddenly erupted in a blazing light that seemed to illuminate the child ethereally from outside, the shadowy form shrinking back into the diminishing darkness as Shinji continued, using words long forgotten and buried in the depths of his mind, using a memory so sacred he had dared never remember it lest it slip away. _"Because,_" he repeated, voice resonating with a hauntingly familiar female tone for just this instant, "anywhere can be heaven, so long as I have the will to live.'

Abruptly, the light vanished, leaving them in twilight once more, Shinji glancing over his shoulder out the window, as if mildly amused by the phenomena.

He turned back to face Shadow, who was barely even concealed any more, "And my will is to live _here." _He finished, and suddenly he found himself back in his seat, across from him, sat the form that had formerly been in shadow, it was an image of Shinji as a child, the child that had been running and hiding all his life.

Shadow smiled, reaching out to touch his counterpart, the world blurring away to nothing as their hands touched, "Then welcome home…"

-Z-

Shinji's eye's opened to the familiar sight of the usual end of class ritual, only catching the 'dismissed' on the end of the class rep's usual mantra. Regardless of how conscious he was of the fact that he was the only one sitting down, he felt oddly light for some reason.

Once the class began to disperse, he allowed himself to stretch and gave out a loud, long yawn followed by a contented sigh as he settled back down into his seat, swiftly sliding his school work into his book bag.

"Were you dreaming?" Shinji blinked in surprise at the sound of the familiar female voice directly to his right.

"Class rep?" said Shinji as he cleared the last of the cobwebs from his head, "W-why didn't you wake me?" he asked, noticing from the clock on the wall that he'd been sleeping nearly two hours.

Hikari blushed, her hands clasped nervously in front of her, "Well, you just looked so peaceful," she said, "I've never seen you that at peace before. I…didn't want to take that away from you." At that, she glanced away, sheepishly paying attention to outside the window.

Shinji looked slightly shocked for a second before exhaling a tired breath, "Thank you, Hikari," he said, smiling softly for an instant as he pulled himself up, stretching his arms outward before heading for the door. He paused for a moment at the threshold, not looking back, "And, Class rep?"

"Yes?"

"Yes, I was dreaming…" He said, smiling again as he vanished from the doorway.

-Z-

The solitary Third Child left the school building as he usually did and stepped out into the setting sun of Tokyo-3, and yet it was as he was halfway between the gates and the school that he stopped and glanced around, a look of mild confusion etched into his features, "Something's… _different_." he murmured as he attempted to put his finger on just what was bothering him.

Before, everything around him had seemed ever-so slightly… _hazy_, almost surreal, as if he were just a brief half-step out of touch with the world around him. But now, everything seemed to be that little bit clearer, everything seemed so…

He froze in thought, searching for the right word for it.

"_Solid_…" He said out loud suddenly, glancing around. Nodding once, satisfied with his assessment, he walked out to the gates and looked forward; left to the bus stop, right to head home to the apartment.

He looked down to the floor and grinned, "No," he said, talking to his feet, "I've already decided. Now stop talking to yourself, Shinji, or people are gonna think you're crazy." And with that he turned briskly left, swinging his book bag over one shoulder and heading off.

He took a few steps, and then stopped, briefly inclining his head, "They'd probably be right," he said with finality, laughing once more before carrying on his way.

At least, that had been his intention…

"Shinji," came a soft voice from behind him as he reached the corner.

He yelped in shock, swinging about and gasping for air, "A-Ayanami!" he wheezed, smiling weakly, "Jeez, don't _do that_. I swear you nearly gave me a heart attack."

Rei tilted her head in confusion, "That was not my intention, however if you are suffering any kind of cardiac distress then it would be apt to notify NERV immediately."

Shinji couldn't help but chuckle, the sound causing the First to flinch in surprise ever so slightly, "No, Rei. I'm sure my cardiovascular system will survive. You just startled me is all. Is there a problem?" He enquired curiously, only slightly unaware as to why the young albino girl would be trailing him, because he did have his suspicions.

"You are going then?" Rei enquired simply, confirming his hypothesis.

"I am," he replied in equally as simple a way; there was no reason for him to mince words with her.

"You are going alone?"

"Yes, yes I am." He said, nodding once, "But don't worry, Rei, I'll be fine." He arched his head about, looking off in the direction of the Saiyan's camp at the edge of the city, "I doubt this is some weird trap, and I'm pretty sure I won't get jumped on the way there." He said reassuringly, the Third Child himself knowing there was always at least two Section Two agents monitoring his movements at all times when he wasn't at home.

Shinji's eyes flicked to the man leaning against a lamppost in the evening wearing sunglasses and a trench coat, and then to the man on the park bench across the street, the man who had been reading the same page of his book for the past fifteen minutes…and also happened to be wearing a trench coat and sunglasses.

Either there was a strange fashion developing in Tokyo-3 that Shinji had never heard of, or Section 2's camouflage skills bordered on the insulting.

Shinji strongly suspected the latter.

Yet the seeming omnipresence of NERV in Tokyo-3 did little to calm the tinge of disconcertment in Rei Ayanami's eyes, as impending danger was far from the reason for her concern about Shinji visiting the Saiyans.

Rei's conversation over her cell phone, the one that she had had after swim class was aborted due to alien invasion, still rang fresh in her ears. It had been an attempt to calm her worry over the nagging sensation, and so she had called her usual one-stop source for all things that needed to be settled.

Or Gendo Ikari as it said on his birth certificate.

Said conversation had basically consisted of Rei conveying what Goku had relayed to Shinji and the commander in turn ordering her to accompany the Third Child to this encounter and relay any prudent information back to him. Needless to say, the conversation had ended with her feeling somewhat less than reassured.

The problem was that even Rei seemed to be developing two conflicting sides of her own personality. Unlike Shinji, the First Child felt such a conflict was something she really could do without. She knew that the most logical course of action was to accompany the Third Child no questions asked, and yet she knew that if he discovered that this course of action was primarily initiated by the Commander then the Third would grow to resent her. Resentment was something she had never really cared about, she had always thought of other's opinions of her to be entirely irrelevant.

At least…she had _thought_ they were. Because when she applied this thought to almost every person she had knowledge of, the irrelevance remained, and yet when she applied it to the Third Child, the thought of his deep resentment of her suddenly…_hurt_.

And so, for some reason she found that as her bottom line; emotional pain was something she _knew_ _of_ yet had never experienced, and therefore she concluded that resentment from Shinji Ikari was something that she could not and would not tolerate. And it was because of this that her earlier premonition disturbed her further; what was it that the Saiyans knew that could possibly fracture her current relationship with the pilot of Unit-01?

The Saiyans may have the ability to manipulate energy and combat the Angels, yet they did not seem to hold any true knowledge of NERV or EVA, else their actions to this point would surely have been different. Especially Goten; she knew that if the young boy had any inclination of what she truly was, then he would not be so quick to offer her his affections.

Yes, it was logical and therefore had to be correct.

Soon Rei Ayanami was about to learn that _logic_, unfortunately for her, was merely an excuse to allow one to be wrong with authority.

Regardless of her inner thoughts, Rei still had her dilemma to solve. How was she to handle _this_ situation?

She needed to know just what her feelings towards the pilot of Unit-01 really were.

'No' she thought, correcting her own line of thought, she needed to realise just what her feelings were towards—

"Shinji…" whispered the First Child out loud unwillingly.

"Yes?" asked the boy in question, coming to a halt and turning round, the azure haired girl having been silent for the better part of two minutes and therefore Shinji merely assumed she had nothing more to say and so had turned and walked off.

"May I accompany you?" she enquired, realising that, more than because she was told to, she realised the most important reason to her was something else:

It was because she _wanted _to.

Shinji held his eyes on Rei unwaveringly for about fifteen seconds before answering, "No," he said, "No, _thank you_, Rei, but I'm going this one alone…I have to." Finished the child, his voice distant and yet it held a deep undertone of stern decisiveness.

And so Rei said nothing more as Shinji turned about once more and walked off, leaving the silent and unsure First Child behind.

'I have failed in my mission,' contemplated Rei to herself as she turned and walked off in the direction of home, 'I was not however ordered to forcefully accompany pilot Ikari should he reject my presence' she paused somewhat dangerously in the middle of the road, cocking her head in thought, 'And the words of Suzuhara have left me…_confused_' she admitted to herself as her usually fluidic mind raged a war to assess her feelings.

"Hey, Snow White! Get the hell off the road!" Rei didn't look up at the driver of the white van as he honked the horn of his vehicle repeatedly, and merely stepped over to the other side of the road, "Friggin' stoner…" muttered the man as he floored the accelerator.

After standing there silently for over three minutes, the First child turned and continued on her way home, no better off in finding a solution to her problems than she had been when she begun thinking about them.

For once, she realised, this was something that not even Commander Ikari could assist her with.

'I will, as Shinji said, have to go this alone,' thought the solitary girl as she walked onwards home, deep in thought, all the while a silent dread gnawed in her gut; a dread of what emotion she might see in the eyes of the Third Child when next they met.

-Z-

As Shinji got off the bus at the stop nearest the Saiyan's encampment he took a deep breath, as if bracing himself for something.

Steeling himself, he turned and headed across the grassy planes. He paused to sigh once and rub his forehead, laughing softly as a seemingly innocent man in a trench coat and sunglasses passed by across the road behind him. He appeared to just be walking a dog, In the middle of nowhere, with no means of other transportation in sight.

Despite himself, Shinji paused and turned fully about to regard the man for a moment. Said man had paused and seemed to be expertly ignoring the pilot. Shinji cupped his hands to his mouth, "I'm sorry, but I've got to ask: are you guys even _trying_ anymore?!" To his credit, the man gave no other reaction to Shinji's words other than a slight cough and to turn his back even further away from him.

Shinji just walked off shaking his head as he crossed into the tall grass, brushing his way through it until he emerged onto the flat grassy plane, his destination in sight.

Standing with his arms folded, silhouetted against the setting golden sun in the distance, was Vegeta, a stern look of deep thought and focus on his face as he regarded the metropolis of Tokyo-3 below him.

The prince didn't need to turn around to know who the quiet footsteps rustling the grass behind him belonged to.

"You're late,"he grunted, still not bothering to turn about.

"Couldn't be helped," replied Shinji, cautiously approaching Vegeta to stand by his side, gripping the handrails and looking down over the cliff below them, a little too nervous to look the Saiyan in the eye.

"Were you followed?"

Shinji shrugged, "It's Tokyo-3, I'm always followed. What, did you think that rock climber in the trench coat down there is just out for some exercise?"

Vegeta glanced down and grunted, "Huh, I thought that was a little odd…"

"I'd get used to it. It's kind of their thing."

Vegeta pushed off from barrier and turned, walking a few steps towards one of the capsule houses, "It doesn't matter. What I have to tell you is important, _extremely_ important," he said, turning his head to Shinji slightly.

"I assumed as much." said Shinji with a nod, "Tell me," he said, his tone level "Tell me _everything._"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the human, reassessing him, "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"I just want to know just what the hell I'm being used for, because for some reason I can't fully digest, I can't help but think that the info I've been given is the full truth," he said, a stern frown on his face as he spoke, missing the tiny smile that graced the Saiyan prince's features.

"You have good instincts…for a human."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Shinji, "_now…_" he prompted, cocking his head towards the door of the house.

Vegeta crossed his arms, "First, let me say this: At first it was my main assumption, like yours, that you're organisation's prime objective was merely crushing this Angel nuisance into dust in order to prevent a 'Third Impact', and therefore I had chosen not to intervene in the matter unless it was absolutely necessary, as was requested by your superiors, but did you not pause to wonder why?"

Shinji frowned, "why, _what_?"

"Why it was that NERV seemed so evident on taking full command of the situation and using EVAs as a primary means of defeating the Angels when _we_ are at hand. _Surely_ it is clear to you that no Angel could pose a threat to the likes of me, and yet your organisation repeatedly asks that we remain on the bench. Tell me; doesn't that strike you as just a little odd?"

Shinji cocked his head acceptingly, "I've got to say it did cross my mind," and then adding silently to himself, 'on more than a hundred separate occasions.'

Vegeta inclined his head back and began pacing slowly in front of the child, "Well that got me thinking: _Why_? And therefore I decided to research NERV's intentions further, using certain maximum level security files we…_acquired_ from the MAGI."

'I'm not sure I needed to know that' thought the pilot to himself apprehensively, but couldn't help the next words coming

"_And,_" he prompted, his voice almost cold in its curiousity "What did you find out?"

Vegeta stopped his pacing and looked Shinji clear in the eye, "I found the reason why I will no longer take any form of instructions or requests from Commander Ikari _or _his superiors. I also seemed to have discovered that I have greatly underestimated what your father is capable of and willing to do to achieve his goals."

"M-my _father's_ superiors?" stammered the pilot, unaware there even was such a thing besides the UN of course, "and his goals… I… I don't understand!" snapped the pilot, shaking his head with tired exasperation.

"Do you _want_ to know?" came, to Shinji's surprise, the voice of Goku, who had appeared in the doorway of the house, the other Saiyan having been informed of everything by Vegeta after he had returned at lunch with Goten, and was now wearing that same look Shinji had only seen when the normally more light-hearted Saiyan was deathly serious about something.

"Can I even make a difference?" asked Shinji distantly, his eyes downturned, "Would it even matter?"

"With our help, yes" Said Goku, stepping forward and resting a hand on Shinji's shoulder, "Yes you can. You just need to have faith, Shinji. Have faith in us, and more importantly, have faith in yourself."

"And what if you don't _have_ any faith in yourself?" Shinji found himself snapping.

Goku just smiled, his eyes gentle, "Well then, I suppose I'll just have to help you find that faith, won't I?"

"_Will_ you help me? Will you be there for me when I need you?" He asked, his eyes narrowing as he attempted to silence that damn nagging voice in the back of his head once and for all.

"You have my word; I... _We will_ not abandon you," he said with a stern determination Shinji wasn't sure he'd ever heard in the voice of another as he kept that large reassuring hand where it was, noticing Shinji's eye's narrowing, and the small smile that graced his features.

"Then do it; show it to me. Tell me what you know; _all of it,_" repeated Shinji, his voice this time unwavering in its conviction. Vegeta nodded once at this, Goku following suit.

"Very well," said Vegeta, "Then let's go inside. This may take some time." And so, uncrossing his arms he walked past the others inside the capsule house followed by Shinji and then Goku, who paused at the threshold to glance about the area for a second, noticing the non-too inconspicuous agents dotted around the edges of the plane, _also _sensing his little well-hidden pair of guards in place.

'No interruptions,' sent out the Saiyan to the two in hiding with his mind, 'no one can know just how much he knows,' and with that he turned into the house and closed the door behind him.

-Z-

"Is it safe?" said Shinji, "Couldn't they hear us outside or something?" he asked, glancing cautiously around the small rounded building as Vegeta walked up to the wall-screen and hooked up his terminal to it, the black glass humming to life a second later.

"No, this is an intense terrain model capsule house, designed for severely dangerous conditions, hence is completely sound proof and isolated from the outside, " explained Vegeta as he booted up the terminal, the screen on the wall glowing as a Capsule Corp. logo blinked into existence in the background.

"Okay." nodded Shinji as he walked slowly about the room and sank down onto the nearby couch facing the screen.

"Good, then shall we begin?" asked Vegeta, gaining a nod from Shinji.

And so, the Saiyan prince began his talk, irrevocably changing the life of Shinji Ikari forever.

-Z-

_Meanwhile, outside…_

The agents that had been observing the house from across the plane watched the group retreat indoors, so far having been unable to read anything the Third Child had said from his lips due to Vegeta constantly keeping himself in their line of sight every time the boy had spoken, nor could they read anything the prince himself had said, owing to him having constantly kept his back to them. If they didn't know any better they could've sworn the prince had been doing it intentionally.

They would've been correct.

With the grassy expanse in front of them now clear of activity, the lead agent raised his arm and signalled them forward, beginning the operation, which, basically, was to attempt to listen in on whatever conversations there were going on between the Third Child and the Saiyan adults.

With the coast clear and, due to one of the Saiyans having nearly always been present outside each of the buildings up until now, (some reports stating that the buildings seem to vanish entirely when all the Saiyans were absent) they saw this as their first perfect opportunity to get close, the dark clad figures moving like prowling cats whilst staying out of line from the buildings windows.

The lead agent raised a hand, signalling the other four in his party to split up and close on the building from the flanks, the rustling of the grass masking some rustling that was coming from a different source. Silently they moved forward, the lead member holding back temporarily.

All four suddenly froze on the spot as the sound of something else rustling the grass reached their ears. The lead agent brought his fist up, signalling a halt as the noise increased in tempo and volume.

The agent took a sudden step back as he noticed the grass moving as two unseen forms passed through it leaving a trail behind. The man backed up further as the trail split off into two, the unseen figures curving around in a classic flanking manoeuvre, moving in on the two groups of agents.

All four agents pulled back into one group, suddenly feeling quite nervous. The leader signalled and two of the agents raised their shell launchers, firing off two cartridges of gaseous anaesthetic.

The two trails suddenly stopped and the agents breathed a sigh of relief, only for the two unseen figures to start moving again an instant later.

The two leading agents let out strangled cries of shock through their gas masks as they were pulled down below the grass by something unseen, only to be sent screaming through the air and crashing into the trees a second later. The leader, in more than a slight panic, fired three more shells in rapid succession into the grass, again to no affect as the trails curved back round, crisscrossing over one another. The team leader had to duck as the two remaining agents were sent flying back into the trees over his head.

"_Crap!,"_ yelped the agent as eloquently as one could in his situation, staggering back as the two trails converged on into one and closed quickly on him. As the rustling got within ten feet, the forms of Goten and Trunks erupted out of the grass, hitting the stunned agent with a synched double shoulder tackle, sending him hurtling back into the tree with his comrades.

Goten and Trunks walked free from their concealment to admire their handiwork which in this case was a large oak tree littered with unconscious section 2 agents.

"Zhey jusht don't get it, do zhey, Goten?" asked Trunks with a smirk as he folded his arms, his voice somewhat distorted by the breathing apparatus up his nose and in the corners of his mouth.

"Guesh not…" said Goten, both turning back and repositioning themselves back in their little hiding places. Both were immensely enjoying their little guard-duty game, both knew the agents in the tree wouldn't be up in a while, mainly due to the fact that Trunks had relieved them of their gas masks, leaving them exposed to the gas that still filled the area.

-Z-

Human emotions: a complex form of numerous different chemical reactions in the brain caused by certain external stimuli, the level at which they are experienced varies depending on the intensity of a situation. Shinji Ikari, by the time the clock had struck 10:30pm, could honestly admit that he had pretty much experienced every emotion within said mental spectrum. His mind had, in the space of the past few hours, gone from intense and total disbelief, flicking then to severe shock, to fear, to hatred, to disgust, back to fear, on to rage for about an hour or so, followed by severe depression, which he was helped through by Goku's reasoning.

The young pilot had allowed the information and warring emotions to stew in his head, and came out finally with what could only be called the most normal reaction a person could have given the situation:

"I think I'm going to be sick…" said the boy, his face a disturbing shade of green, the impact of what he now knew and had taken several hours to accept finally hitting him like a punch in the gut as he proceeded to vomited badly for over ten minutes, not stopping until his body was positive that it had nothing left in it to expel.

Helped up by the combination of Goku and a Senzu bean, the young Ikari slumped back into a chair, bringing his knees up to his chest, resting his head on them as his mind raged to fully assimilate all of the raw data he had just been neatly fed and then proceeded to thrown up. Shinji had clocked up a total of two hours in shocked breakdowns during the barrage of revelations, and had only managed to scrape through it with his sanity intact thanks to some mild telepathy on the part of Goku and, after about three minutes of sitting there and rocking back and forth, Goku watched as the palms of Shinji's hands which were resting on his knees slowly clench into white knuckled fists, the boy focusing all his warring emotions into pure and undisguised hatred.

"You understand the severity of the situation then," said Goku to the disturbingly calm Shinji Ikari.

"I understand," Shinji said, teeth clenched, "I understand what my purpose is here at last; I understand now what it is I must do," he said, sternly passing his glance over Goku and Vegeta, the boy seemingly unaware of the fact that he was squeezing his fist so hard that a small trail of blood was streaming down his wrist and was slowly pooling on the tiled floor.

"Are you really okay with this though?" asked Goku with concern, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Shinji paused to think, but oddly found the answer surprising even to himself, "_Yes_, yes I think I am…finally. It might take some getting used to, and I might not look at one or two things, "'or people' he added silently to himself, "in quite the same way again, but in a way I'm glad to know what I do now." He said with a far off look in his eyes as he gently unclenched his fists.

His face seemed to calm as he inclined his head, "Also kind of explains one or two things," he found himself laughing slightly as he focused on the positive sides of knowing what he did now, "And Misato doesn't know, does she?" he asked, looking across the room to Vegeta.

"No. As far as I can tell, for some reason she seems to be completely in the dark about pretty much everything that's going on. Though I would recommend that you don't-"

"I know," said Shinji quietly, interrupting the prince, "I can't tell her. And I'm guessing it would be a bad career decision to suddenly blurt out what I know in one go."

"Very bad," replied Goku.

"So what do we do?" asked Shinji, still regarding Vegeta.

The Saiyan prince turned and began slowly pacing, "For now, nothing. The game's still at too early a stage for us to reveal our hand. We'll wait until the stakes are raised and let them make a few moves first." He said, pausing to look out the window at Tokyo-3.

"And me?" Shinji asked, the whole situation still being kind of surreal to him.

"Simple, keep an eye on things and proceed as natural. With what you now know we should be able to predict their moves from their actions around you. Just keep your eyes open and make sure to look at things in a new light. So long as they don't suspect you know what you do then they won't act any differently, which is exactly how I want it," he explained to Shinji, who nodded sternly in response.

"Understood. And you?" he asked, seeming to find the situation easier to deal with if he treat it like any other combat briefing.

"We're the artillery. As soon as we know when to make our move, which is as soon as our opponents reach the stage of the game when they make their final move, we intervene and wipe them off the board. You are the eyes and ears, we are your strength. And should any of our enemies make take any direct action against you personally, or if you do get into any danger, "he paused to smirk, "_Well_… that's why I'm here," he said, a crackle of blue energy flicking off his upper bicep as if to emphasise his point.

"Hmm," Shinji hummed, a grin spreading over his now calming features as he reassessed the situation, "Talk about a tangled web: so many sides, playing by so many different rules, each desperately trying to outmanoeuvre the other, and yet all strangely playing the same game," said the boy as his mind pictured a chess board with four different coloured pieces on it.

"It's screwed up alright," commented Goku, dropping lazily down onto the sofa and regarding Shinji, "You've taken this… slightly better than I had hoped."

Shinji stood, walking slowly for the door, "Things change, Goku, and so do people," he said, opening the door and out under the starry sky that blanketed Tokyo-3.

Alone, Shinji walked over to the cliff edge, grasping hold of the railings and leaning forward to stare out at the cityscape below. Even as his mind calmed, the pilot he found it still consumed by a calm sea of purest rage. Again he thought back on several of the facts he now knew, his calm face melting into a snarl, '_Father…_ I vow that I'm going to bring your twisted little world tumbling down around you, from right under your nose. Ironic…your very own son has become your own antithesis' he paused in thought as his grip tightened, 'yours and_Seele's_.' he contemplated, his snarl sliding into something that would have chilled even Gendo.

An intense smirk graced Shinji's features as he stared out over Tokyo-3 'And I _will_ do it if I have to, father, I _swear_ it'…

As a cold wind set in, Shinji's face took on a more melancholic look as a single tear fell from his storm blue eyes 'just please, God… Don't make me, ' he thought sadly, before steeling himself once more to the task ahead and walking back to the door of the capsule house.

Goku was waiting just inside, "Ready to go?" he asked, smiling softly as he stepped out into the cold night air with the pilot.

"Yeah," said Shinji, smiling back, "Take me home."

Placing one hand on Shinji's shoulder and two fingers to his forehead, both Goku and the mentally exhausted pilot disappeared, instantly reappearing in the general area of Shinji's apartment, not giving Shinji much of a chance to ask about the dozen or so Section two agents he had seen strewn about the area around the Saiyan's encampment.

Goku walked Shinji up through the apartment building, the Saiyan having chosen to take the stairs rather than just fly him up.

"It's going to be hard," said Goku, breaking the silence they were in. Shinji paused and looked back, realising the Saiyan had stopped a few yards back, "knowing what you do and not being able to tell her." He elaborated, walking slowly toward him.

Shinji nodded, "It will be, and I've accepted that. I've already sworn to myself, after all she has done for me, I will protect her," Shinji commented, his eyes focusing on the door to his home.

"And so will we," Goku added as he dropped a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, earning a soft smile from the pilot as he walked up to his door, slid in his key card and disappeared behind it a second later.

Goku's shoulders sagged as he blew out a tired breath, "_Phew!_ What a day…" he side, turning away and hopping off into the night sky, taking a small leisurely flight home to clear his head.

Shinji entered the apartment with a heavy head. His few hours of sleep at school were not nearly enough to fully clear the fatigue in his head. The odd dreams he had had earlier in the day seemed to if anything have made him ever more tired.

And so, yawning once, he headed into the kitchen to get a final glass of milk before heading off to bed.

The pilot stopped dead in his silent tracks as he passed the living room as he sighted her, still wearing her NERV uniform less red flight jacket with several beer cans strewn about her in front of the couch, cell phone hugged to her chest and her address book clenched in the one hand. It didn't take Shinji long to guess what she had been busy doing so late. After all, he didn't actually _tell_ her that he would be visiting the Saiyans since he didn't think he'd be there longer than half an hour, never mind five or six. He assumed his father wouldn't be so forthcoming with any information on his whereabouts. After all, Shinji guessed the commander wanted to know just how much the Saiyans really knew, and he obviously wouldn't want the Captain ruining such a perfect opportunity and had therefore probably just neglected to inform her of section 2's reports.

His face fell as he stared down at the slumbering woman, 'she must have been worried sick…' he silently contemplated, neatly sliding the articles out of the heavy-sleeping woman's hands and placing them on the table, smiling softly "…I had work to do" he whispered, leaving and returning a moment later with a small blanket to cover the sleeping form. He brushed her lavender hair back out of her face softly, admiring her peacefully slumbering features 'I suppose, In a way, you really are just like me,' he thought with slight sadness for a second before turning off the light and creeping off to his own room, pretty much falling asleep before his head hit the pillow, his last thought being to thank god that it was the weekend tomorrow. And so he slumbered, his mind so tired it didn't have the energy to dream…

As morning rolled over into afternoon, the two occupants still slumbered. It was a rare thing for Misato to be the first to stir as she slowly regained consciousness.

Immediately the purple haired woman glanced about confusedly as she took in the facts. She ignored the mild hangover, it was nothing her morning hair of the dog wouldn't fix after all, and found her mind registering several things:

1. This wasn't her room.

2. She didn't even remember going to sleep last night.

3. She didn't cover herself in a blanket, and finally.

4. Shinji should have woke—

Her mind froze as the name passed through it. She jumped instantly up, blanket trailing behind her as she slid open the door to her charge's room.

"Shinji!" She said called, and then stopped as she realised with some hefty relief that he was actually there. She was about to wake him up and give him a non-too pleasant talking too when her mind figured out why she hadn't gone to her room and why she had a blanket over her when she woke up.

Her eyes trained on the overly peaceful face of her charge, "Always the thoughtful one…" she mumbled quietly with a small smile, "but don't think you're getting off the hook that easily, mister" she grinned and turned around, pausing at the sound of mumbling from her charge as he began to stir.

"Misato?" slurred Shinji uncertainty as he cleared his eyes and stretched, yawning deeply.

"Yes, and might I be so humble as to enquire," she began, folding her arms, "just where in the _hell_ you were last night?" demanded Misato with a degree of frustration, yet somehow unable to be as fully mad at Shinji as she thought she should be.

Shinji groaned as he pulled himself up, said groan really just to give him the time to think up a decent cover story, "Sorry, Misato. Goku said there was something Vegeta wanted to talk to me about, something about EVA, and so I went to see him. We chatted for a bit… Guess I lost track of time, and my cell phone battery kind of died on me." He explained, pausing to mentally congratulating himself on what he considered a cover story well thought up.

"And that was?" Misato pushed, narrowing her eyes.

"What was what?"

"What was it that Vegeta of all people would want to talk to you about?"

"Oh, he just wanted to point out some flaws he had seen in my fighting strategies and wanted to give his _humble_ opinion. That basically consisted of him pointing out that everything I did had room for improvement," Shinji replied, and more mental back patting ensued. He was getting good at this lying stuff.

That disconcerted him for an instant.

"For _how_ many hours?" asked Misato with slight incredulousness.

"Well afterwards we just ended up chatting and like I said; I lost track of time."

"Well okay then, but from now on _please_ let me know if you're going to be that late home. I was really worried about you, Shinji," She said with softness that stung the pilot for an instant, before turning and walking out./

"Of course, Misato," Shinji reassured, disguising the relief in his voice under another yawn.

And so morning rituals began as they always did in the Ikari-Katsuragi household, with the exception of Shinji having a strangely extra bounce in the way he was making breakfast, a change which was not lost on Misato.

"Shinji?" asked the Captain, her finger twirling about the rim of her beer can as she regarded her charge from behind

"Hmmm?"

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked uncertainly, not quite able to put a finger on what was off.

"Great," said Shinji, pausing to glance back over his shoulder at her, spatula in hand, "why do you ask?"

"No reason, you just seem a little more _upbeat_ is all."

He tilted his head and went back to his cooking, "Then I'll try to gloom down in your presence in future, your highness," he said with a note of sarcasm, grinning slightly as he flourished his spatula in mock courtesy.

Misato blinked, 'Okay, now _that_ was off, but what else is it?' She contemplated, frowning in thought for a moment. Her mind twigged it a second later, 'Wait a minute, is he… _humming_? He's never done that before.' She went silent as she watch her charge go about his work, 'I guess we all have our good days. I hope you get more of them.' She smiled slightly to herself as Shinji turned about and set her breakfast down in front of her.

She switched into what she liked to refer to as 'Captain Katsuragi mode' for a moment, "Don't forget, Shinji, you've got that harmonics test this evening at five, so _please_ do try to keep your all too busy schedule open for us lesser beings at NERV."

"I'll _try_…" intoned the pilot in reply as he washed up, his suddenly turning to the test Misato had mentioned, 'And there's another thing I won't be able to think of the same way again.' He sighed mentally to himself, and yet strangely he couldn't help but feel a small amount of anticipation for the event.

"Well _do_ try. Your ratio may be doing well but you're still over forty points below Asuka, remember to focus." said Misato, not wanting to admit just _how well_ he was doing, also omitting Ritsuko's comment about how his ratio was increasing on an upward curve and was theoretically going to surpass both the other pilots far earlier than was previously expected.

"Focus, focus, focus…" Shinji chanted as he served up his own breakfast and sat down, Misato continuing to sip at her morning pick-me-up.

"So might I ask why you're so _perky_ this morning?" Misato enquired as she finished off her breakfast.

"I don't know. Y_ou're_ my 'personal and psychological monitor', you tell me," Shinji commented, polishing off his orange juice, missing the blink of surprise from Misato at the sound of her official NERV title for her guardianship duties. 'I didn't even know he _knew_ that phrase.' Misato contemplated, frowning in confusion as Shinji began to clear his plate.

Suddenly Misato's cell phone began ringing

Shinji followed Misato's movements out of the corner of his eyes as she picked up her cell phone.

Shinji's heart immediately sank as, after her initial greeting and a pause, Misato's face switched instantly into a deep and serious glare.

He breathed a sigh as he put the plates down and rested his forehead against the kitchen wall, knowing what was coming as Misato's phone bleeped, signalling the end of conversation.

Misato turned to Shinji, who was now looking up at the ceiling, hands clenched as if he could just reach out and choke whatever god was up there.

"Oh, _don't _say it…" He groaned, knowing what she was about to tell him.

"It's okay Shinji, " Misato said softly, causing Shinji to breathe out a premature sigh of relief, "I won't _say it._" Misato couldn't help but grin as Shinji let out a loud 'gyah!', bashing his forehead off the wall in frustration before immediately turning to find his shoes.

_Approximately one hour later_.

"Is Shinji okay?" asked Ritsuko curiously, turning to Misato and cutting the audio link with Unit-01 for a moment.

Misato frowned, "He _seems_ to be. I mean he's been a little different lately, but that's about it. Why?"

"Well it's just that he seems to be even more unnerved than usual, and yet somehow his sync ratio has increased," adding 'again' silently to herself.

"So what's _this_ guy's game?" came Asuka's remark from Unit-02 as she zoomed her screen in on the lumbering form of the Angel.

"Well that's the seventh one, I think. His name's Israfel," said Shinji, narrowing his eyes as he tried to recall certain facts he had chosen to pick out about the Angels "The…Angel of Dance and Rhythm…I think."

"That's very good, Shinji." came Ritsuko's pleasantly surprised voice.

"W-what? Oh, I just did a little biblical research, that's all. Gotta know what to call your enemy if you're scream and curse at it," he said, thinking up the most plausible excuse as possible at such short notice.

"Dance and Rhythm, huh?" came Asuka's voice over the comm. as she stared at the form on the surface, "Doesn't look very graceful to me."

"Forget about its name," cut in Misato, "just remember your attack pattern."

"Yeah, yeah I know; take turns, attack in waves…" replied Asuka drearily.

"Good. You got that, Shinji?"

"Got it," He replied as both EVAs were released from their moorings on their planes and dropped down to the surface by the ocean.

"I still don't see why I couldn't just take this thing solo. Why'd I have to have you tag along on my debut battle in Japan?"

"I guess they just think we make a good couple," quipped Shinji over the video link with a grin.

"Don't even _think_ about getting any more ideas hentai-boy. Don't think I've forgotten about the last fight!".

"Calm it, you two! Survivability takes priority, that's the reason for these arrangements," said Misato irritably.

"_Okay then._ _So _why don't we just have Goku, Vegeta, Trunks and Goten blast this thing and have done with it?" enquired Shinji with a raised eyebrow.

"You've already been informed _why,_ Shinji; Commander Ikari doesn't want _any_ interference in NERV business from the Saiyans, not unless it's _absolutely_ necessary," Ritsuko explained, missing Shinji's grumble about it being 'unlikely he'll tell us _why._'

As the power sockets slid into place and Units 01 and 02 prepared for combat, Israfel turned to face its enemy.

"I'll handle this one, Third Child. You just stay there and back me up." said Asuka, boasting slightly.

"_E__xcuse me?_ Fine, be that way, ya dumb rookie! Unit-01 taking backup position," informed Shinji as he levelled his rifle at the target, firing several volleys of covering fire to the left and right of Unit-02, the red mecha charging its adversary head on, a bladed lance in it's hand.

Asuka grinned manically as she leaped her EVA a hundred metres into the air, bringing her bladed weapon up over her head and, using the gravity and inertia of the fall for added force, swung it down through the point of AT field neutralisation, the blade making contact with the angel's raw flesh and neatly slicing the Angel cleanly into two.

"Well I'll be damned…" murmured Shinji in disbelief.

"How d'ya like _that,_ Third Child? I thought I'd just show you how it ought to be done; swiftly and elegantly without waste," said Asuka with exaggerated sweetness.

"Well I know when I'm beaten," admitted Shinji with an inclination of his head, "That was amazing, Asuka."

"Why, _thank you,_ Third Child," said Asuka graciously, "Anyhow, Misato, shall we just-" Asuka was suddenly interrupted as the two halves of Israfel behind her shuddered, congealing upon themselves. Suddenly the Angel's outer skin burst free as they solidified into two very separate, very alive entities.

Shinji froze in his cockpit as the two Angels took formation.

"What the_ hell _is this?" shouted Shinji, only partially aware of Misato shouting something similar over the command feed as both targets lunged forward in synchronized grace.

The real battle had begun.

And it didn't last long…

_To be continued…_

-XA-

[A/N] Not sure how this chapter got three pages longer, but that'll happen I guess. Now I know it's premature, but as thanks for your continued support over the years and apologies for the neglect this fic has received, I've got a little something special planned, and though it wont be for seven chapters, I've put up a poll on my profile page to let you decide how it will go, but I'm giving nothing more away.

But that is then and this is now, and so I'll endeavour to get the next chapter up for you as soon as possible.

Catch you all in Chapter 11: Force of Rhythm


	11. Chapter 11: Force of Rhythm

[A/N] Interesting direction that poll has taken, I'll have to hold out drafting that chapter in order to see how that turns out. Well I've tried to get this one out in record time but, as I said, chapters only get longer and longer from here (though to be fair this one is marginally shorter than the last) and again I apologise if any of you got impatient, especially those who are just waiting for me to finish rereleasing chapters and, as some have asked, has there been any major changes to the storyline. Well, as I said there will be tweaks and bits added as needed, but it'll still remain true to how it was, but enough of me, let's carry on, oh and the parts of the Seele Council and Keele Lorenz have been digitally replaced by twelve Ewoks and Hayden Christensen…

**Chapter 11: Force of Rhythm**

"Oh, come _on_!" barked Shinji, jumping to his feet to cut off Asuka, who had been in the midst of explaining why their catastrophic defeat by the Angel was entirely his fault, and that he had only been bringing down her perfect battle skills.

He stabbed a finger at the monitor, "You did about as well as you did in the battle against the Sixth Angel, and I wasn't even piloting then!

By God, you look like a trapped mole!" he finished, gesturing at the image of Unit-02, which currently had winches attached to its legs in an attempt to unstick it from the earth where the Angel had planted like some giant red vegetable.

"Ooh, that's big talk coming from a big drowned fish!" Asuka retorted, stabbing her own finger at Unit-01, which hadn't really fared that much better.

"_Hey_!" interjected Commander Fuyutski before the pilots decided to try drawing blood from each other, "Do you two have _any_ idea what your job is?"

Asuka was about to retort when Shinji raised an eyebrow and spoke first, surprising most of the people in the room with the almost sarcastic tone in his voice, "By all means, e_nlighten me_, sir. Because sometimes, I really do wonder," he said, rolling his eyes and not noticing Fuyutski looking stunned for just a brief instant.

"Piloting EVA?" Asuka offered, who missed also the relieved look on Fuyutski's face as she inadvertently set him back on track for his chewing out.

"No, It's to beat the Angels!" he snapped, and was about to continue when Shinji cut in once more.

"Beat the Angels, Huh?" Shinji echoed, nodding his head in exaggerated thought, "Why don't you just let me write that down in case I forget," said Shinji through slightly gritted teeth and pointedly turned to a nearby table, tore off a piece of writing paper and wrote down in deliberately oversized Kanji whilst audibly mumbling "hmm beat…mmm…the…Angels...period," he paused with his pen hovering over the paper, glancing up at Fuyutski, who was glowering down his nose at him, "Anything else you'd like to add to that, sir? I don't know…_children _perhaps?" he asked, "I _really_ wouldn't want to be caught _not doing my job_, after all."

Fuyutski seemed totally caught off guard by the mirth in the normally obedient pilot's voice.

'What the _hell_ am I doing?' Shinji found himself thinking, suddenly picturing what was going on in his head from the outside. He found himself, surprisingly, needing to force down a smirk, 'Feels kinda good though…'

Fuyutski, collecting himself as much as one could after being chewed out by a fourteen year old boy, regarded his subordinate icily, "This is insubordination, _pilot_," He said, teeth gritted, having been pissed as it was with just the loss against the Angel without this being added on top of it.

"I was _just_ making a point…_sir,_" he replied, calming himself down.

Fuyutski just sighed tiredly, not letting himself be baited further, "Your 'point' has been made."

"See that it has." added Shinji, taking the last word for his own.

The commander hissed a calming breath through his nose and continued, "The fact of the matter is, NERV does not exist to make grotesque public spectacles like this!" He said, beckoning his hand at the screen.

'And I would just love to blurt out why NERV really _does _exist. Wouldn't that be a spectacle,' contemplated Shinji with slight rebelliousness, marveling at how the slightly less stony of the two commanders could act as innocent as he does whilst knowing what is going on around him.

"And that is why you two must learn to work together!"

"Why should we?" Both children chorused, Shinji snapping out of his mental monologue.

"_Enough…_" the sub-commander breathed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he hit the down control on the elevator and descended from the darkened bridge.

The commander glanced up once, eyes training on the Third Child with a frown, and briefly caught sight of his dark blue orbs, regarding him back from within the darkness.

As he descended alone, a brief shudder went through the commander. Those eyes, that look; for an instant the boy reminded the old professor of his father.

No, that wasn't right. It was worse than that. For just that second, the boy had the eyes of the one person with more calculating intelligence than the supreme commander could ever hope to muster.

Fuyutski suppressed that chill once more.

The boy had his mother's eyes.

-Z-

"God, why is it that everyone has to get so damn angry around here, Kaji?" asked Asuka, turning to mister five o'clock shadow himself.

Kaji leaned back against the console behind him, folding his arms,"Adults get really hyped up when it comes to credibility, although usually it ends up being the person in charge who has to dig us out of the hole."

Shinji nodded with understanding, "Misato…"

"Bingo," confirmed Kaji with a grin, "And might I be so humble as to ask what was up with that little outburst of yours?" enquired Kaji, who was still smiling, but his eyes held an inquisitive glint, as if he were only now truly interested.

Shinji shrugged, "I don't know, it's just what he said seemed a bit hypocritical after everything that's happened, and I mean it's not as if he's the one going out risking his life fighting giant monsters, is it? And… I kinda got a lot of things on my mind," he explained, his eyes falling slightly.

"Like what?" enquired the Second Child with a frown.

"Nothing you really need concern yourself about, Asuka…" replied the boy softly, standing up and walking out of the room before another word could be said.

"Whatd'ya think he meant by _that_?" asked Asuka, frowning at the door the pilot had left through.

"Who knows…" Kaji replied with a somewhat dismissive shrug, though from the look in his eyes he seemed far more intrigued over the development than he was admitting.

"So, Kaji, do you think Goku will just take those two things out while they're all fried up?" Asuka enquired, nodding at the image of twin Angel, which was currently incapacitated due to an intense N2 bombing raid.

"Well, maybe," said Kaji, a slightly roguish smile on his face, "but I've asked him to hold on while we try out just _one_ last little thing."

"And that is…"Asuka prompted as the man walked off.

"You'll see, Asuka…" He said, grinning mischievously back as the door slid shut behind him.

"Mysteries, mysteries, mysteries…" Asuka groaned, flopping back in her chair.

"Welcome to the happy world that is NERV headquarters," commented Maya from behind her with a slight chuckle, Asuka merely sighing tiredly in response.

-Z-

Shinji walked down the long steel-covered corridors of NERV deep in thought.

True; there wasn't any particular time he ever _had_ to be out of headquarters by, and therefore was basically free to do as he pleases outside of duty times, he just had to make sure he didn't get in anyone's way or draw attention from certain suspicious characters.

Or Section 2 as it says on their ID badges.

Normally by this time Shinji would have been halfway up the elevator to ground level by now, desperate to get out of headquarters, but not today.

He wasn't exactly doing anything _wrong_ by walking about randomly, but he really couldn't help it; after all he had learned recently, everything now seemed so… "_Interesting,_"

He felt like a child exploring a new playground as he went from corridor to corridor, cataloging certain things in his mind.

It was just as he reached another service elevator that he stopped, narrowing his eyes in thought as something occurred to him, a thought that cracked into a spark of curiosity, a spark which then blazed into a need to know; there was something he had to check.

He spun round completely and headed off toward his intended destination.

-Z-

"I'm just thankful to God Ikari isn't here," said Commander Fuyutski to nobody in particular as he stood in thought, staring down through the observation window overlooking the cage containing Unit-00 and the newly secured Units 01 and 02. "If there's one thing Ikari enjoys, it's chewing people out," he added with a tired smile as his eyes drifted from EVA to EVA.

His visual survey came to a halt before reaching Unit-02, his mind registered what he had seen.

At first, for just the briefest of instances, he thought it was Commander Ikari, but the fact that his old student was hundreds of miles away on other business kind of negated that theory.

He blinked his eyes to clear them and immediately recognized the figure standing there, and also why he had made his mistake: It was because the form below was standing in almost exactly the same position as Gendo Ikari, during which the supreme commander would seemingly spend hours looking up into the lifeless yet somehow aware eyes of Evangelion Unit-01. But no, it was not Gendo Ikari who stood below...

"_Shinji?_" whispered Fuyutski, frowning. It was not so much the fact that the boy was down there, it was the fact that the sub-commander could swear the Third Child was now staring up at Unit-01 in almost exactly the same way his father would, though his gaze did seem tinged with much more curiosity than the supreme commander's.

'_No_…' thought Shinji as he regarded the EVA up close, 'They can't be right about it, can they?' he contemplated, staring up and staying eye-locked with the purple mecha. The pilot stayed like that, caught in a bizarre staring contest with the biomechanical monster.

Shinji found himself almost unable to move, and yet after a minute he felt his right foot lift, as if on its own accord, and step forward. He suddenly found himself drifting step by slow step towards the giant form. And, as if in a trance, his hand rose slowly up, the boy gently extending his palm, resting it on the cold metal surface of the EVA's head.

"It can't be…" whispered Fuyutski as he observed the younger Ikari's behavior, coming up with several different hypotheses for it; not particularly liking any of them, especially the one that he found himself breathing out, "He can't possibly _know_."

Shinji stayed there for at least three minutes, concentrating on anything. Anything that would prove something for or against what he had been told about the EVA by the Saiyans, and yet somehow, deep within the depths of his very soul, he knew Vegeta was telling the truth.

He knew it was the truth because he had _felt _it, each and every time he sat in that entry plug. Shinji's eyes drooped slightly as he felt his body slump, leaning up against the cold hard surface of the EVA as if it were his only support and, with his head resting against the armored surface, said desperately, almost inaudibly, "_Mother, _" he whispered, "Show me…" and, an instant later, as if waiting for the opportunity, the EVA decided to blast Shinji Ikari's doubts into atoms…

"_What_?" Kozo gasped, staggering back a pace as Unit-01's stoic eyes suddenly burst into life. The EVA's eyes stayed glowing for a just a few brief seconds, the image of its berserker form, as the rest of the EVA did…_nothing_.

Shinji had staggered backwards, slipping on some stray coolant and landing flat on his backside, looking up at into the glowing white orbs of Evangelion Unit-01.

Shinji's face wore a mask of shock, awe and horror as the young pilot slowly pulled himself to his feet, his eyes never once straying from those of Unit-01.

Shinji rose back to full height again, eyes still locked with the EVA's as the glowing faded away, leaving the mecha as lifeless and calm-looking as it had been before.

"So that's it, huh?" Shinji barely managed to whisper as his mind struggled to cope with just what this revelation meant.

The sub-commander reached quickly over and hit the loudspeaker control, "Shinji! Are you okay?".

Shinji's eyes flicked up to spot the officer for the first time. A ghost of a smile graced his features as he inclined his head once.

"Oh yes, sir," said Shinji in a tone Fuyutski had never heard from him before, "everything is just fine…" finished the pilot ambiguously who, without another word, slid his hands into his pockets, turned about and walked calmly away.

The sub-commander stood, staring down at the cage deep in thought.

This was nothing to be taken too lightly; Unit-01 had just effectively reactivated itself, and also _effectively_ at what appeared to be its own pilot's whim.

Fuyutski's eyes narrowed, "Just what in the hell does this mean?" he murmured, his brow clenched into a frown, watching Shinji until he left the cage before training his attention fully on the now silent form of Evangelion Unit-01.

-Z-

As Shinji walked towards the nearby surface elevator, he slid the white cell phone he had been given free from his pocket. He flipped it open and began punching in a quick text message:

QUEEN IS ON THE BOARD

'It seems the game has begun to tip in my favor already,' contemplated Shinji, flicking the phone closed and slipping it back into his pocket. He halted as he waited by the elevator, feeling a strange tingle of satisfaction that he couldn't quite pin down.

"Not such a good day huh, Shinji?" asked Maya as Shinji boarded the elevator and hit the ground floor button, leaning back against the wall behind her.

"I don't know, ma'am," said Shinji with a tone of amusement, "I've had worse, I gotta admit," he explained, the lieutenant turning her attention to him, regarding the pilot as he laid back, looking entirely too relaxed in her opinion, certainly more relaxed than she'd ever seen him anyway.

"I doubt Captain Katsuragi would agree with you."

"_Well,_" said Shinji, inclining his head acceptingly, "That may be so, but in contrast to most, I'd say this day turned out to be very…" he paused, humming as he thought of the right word before looking at the lieutenant head on, "…_enlightening_.'"

"Learn from your mistakes, huh?" She offered as the elevator bell dinged and the doors opened, Shinji moving past her as he departed.

"Yeah," he said, tilting his head around to regard her, "_something_ like that," He added, a tiny smile on his face as the doors closed between them.

"What did he mean by that?" echoed Maya with a frown; Fuyutski obviously wasn't the only one a little confused by the normally reserved Third Child's behavior.

-Z-

Several hours later, Shinji returned home from visiting Kensuke's apartment. He approached the door to what was both his domicile and also what he now considered sanctuary from the pains of the world around him, especially now that the threat that was Misato's teasing seemed virtually invisible.

Little did he know, there were a group of people in said domicile ready and waiting to smash said metaphoric sanctuary into lots of lovely little pieces…

-Z-

"What the hell is all this?" Shinji shouted as he walked into the apartment, his eyes met by the sight of dozens of DHL removal boxes.

For a brief instant he wondered if he'd accidentally wandered into the wrong apartment, but dismissed this thought as quickly as it came, realizing even he wasn't that stupid.

"And just what are _you_ doing here?" A horribly familiar voice demanded to his left, the confused boy swinging round to come face to face with the sight of a smug-looking Second Child.

"_M__e?"_ Gaped Shinji in disbelief, "What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" she asked sweetly, "I'm going to be living here from now on."

"You _what_?"

"Yeah, that's right; you're officially being dumped for the newer model. Misato will be living with me now," said Asuka with a grin, flicking her hair out smugly and began to reiterate how the new arrangements were only sensible considering her supremely superior skills, all the while Shinji's jaw somehow manage to drop further without dislocating as he noticed his own possessions had been hastily gathered and dumped in a box in the hallway in order to make room for even more of the Second Child's extensive collection of personal belongings.

The boy completely ignored Asuka as she went on to commentate her views on Japanese living styles, also missing Misato's somewhat mysterious appearance behind the German girl, instead choosing to let his frustration simply boil over, dwarfing out the explanation Misato was about to offer.

"What the _hell_ is going on here!" Bellowed the pilot as the confusion became too much for his already overworked synapses to bear.

"_Ahh_," said Misato meekly, a little taken aback by the outburst, "perhaps we should all go through and discuss this…shall we?"

"_Shall we?_" echoed Shinji sarcastically, shaking his head as Misato lead the teens through into the lounge, a small stereo slung over her shoulder.

As the trio entered the living room, Asuka skidded to a halt ahead of the others as she noticed the presence of another person sitting and looking somewhat impatient in an armchair with his arms folded.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Asuka with a scowl, not entirely sure how the man had gotten in when she been busy in the hall for the past two hours unpacking.

"Vegeta…" said Shinji with surprise as he saw the Saiyan lounging in one of the chairs.

"Comfortable?" Misato asked of the Saiyan prince who, from what she could tell, was somewhat difficult to please.

"I'm _fine_," growled the Saiyan, "can we just get on with this, I have more important things to do than to play introductions to some bratty teenage girl," he grumbled, despite it being a total lie; he had _nothing_ else to do, he just really didn't _want _to be there.

"Hey, just who the hell do you think you are?" Shouted the understandably offended Asuka at the high strung Saiyan, who in turn shot her back a glare that caused the girl to recoil back a few steps.

Shinji edged up to Asuka's side, "Umm, he's the person who seems to enjoy blasting Angels into non-existence with literally one hand behind his back, you know, _t__hat_ kind of person," he muttered, more as a genuine warning than an insult to her intelligence.

"I…_ see,_" She said slowly, keeping her eyes trained on Vegeta as one might a dangerous predator, smartly deciding to let the insult slide.

"Vegeta, Asuka, Asuka, Vegeta," said Misato dejectedly, waving a hand between them, a bit late in her introductions.

"Whatever," scoffed the Saiyan "get on with it, woman."

"_Fine," _huffed Misato, muttering, "_jerk_," under her voice as she dropped down into a chair, indicating the children to do the same.

"look," said Vegeta with his usual impatience, "the only reason I'm here is because your boyfriend visited me and asked me to refrain from reducing that Angel to dust, supposedly because _you_ claim to still have a plan. And since I was in such a good mood, I'm going to give you ten minutes to convince me to give you another chance."

"My _boyfriend?_" snapped Misato, "He's _not_ my boyfriend!"

"I bet he wouldn't see it that way," said Vegeta with a smirk.

"Drop it will you, you pointy haired jerk! We have more important things to talk about," barked the Captain, letting her anger override reason.

Ignoring the insult to his hairstyle, Vegeta just _hmphed_, "_Fine_, now get on with it. Nine minutes left."

"Okay then, where do I begin?" said the captain, rubbing her chin as a familiar looking hot spring penguin waddled into the room looking for attention, taking a seat in front of her owner. Misato reached down to ruffle his feathers as she began summarizing her plan to defeat the currently regenerating Angel...

-Z-

Shinji summed up his opinion of the plan, and their subsequent living arrangements, with just one word, "…_What?_"

Needless to say, Asuka wasn't so calm, "You gotta be kidding me!" She shrieked, jumping to her feet and slamming a fist into the coffee table, "Me live under the same roof as this hentai?" she demanded, using her other hand to stab an accusing finger at Shinji, who merely rolled his eyes.

"You're too late, Asuka," replied Misato calmly, "It's already been decided and approved."

"What _nut_ would approve something as crazy as this!" demanded Shinji incredulously.

"This one," declared Misato, proudly pointing a thumb at herself.

"Humph, that explains it I guess," grumbled Asuka.

Vegeta sat, ignoring what he saw as pointless prattling between the trio as his mind worked over the woman's plan and its chances of success. He made his decision, 'Alright then, she can have her week. It'll give me a chance to prepare further,' the sly Saiyan contemplated, narrowing his eyes as a tiny smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, 'besides, this I've just got to see…'

"Enough, "declared Misato, "it's what's been deci-" she was cut off however by Vegeta's voice as he suddenly spoke.

"You've got you're seven days, Captain," he stated matter-of-factly, eyes still narrowed in thought.

"_Y__ou're_ going along with this, Vegeta?" said Shinji, gaping at the Saiyan.

"See, even he thinks we can pull it off," said Misato smugly.

"You've got one chance, Captain. If your first attack fails, then I take matters into my own hands," he said, pausing to glance at the Captain, "Understood?"

Misato understood that it wasn't a question, but she really didn't mind, since for her it simply made it a win-win situation, "Understood," she said, nodding once.

Shinji sighed a defeated breath, "So when do we begin?"

"As soon as Asuka's moved in and we get the preparations laid out," replied Misato.

"Misato," said Asuka a little too sweetly, "can I have a quick word with you in private?" She asked, wanting to get one last stab at reasoning with the lavender-haired officer.

She would fail.

"Okay," Misato said, smiling as she followed Asuka into the hallway.

This left Vegeta and Shinji sitting alone silently in the living room, a somewhat curious Pen-Pen eying the stranger in the chair.

All was quiet with the exception of the sound of Asuka's audible complaining out in the hall.

Shinji drummed his fingers together, "Umm…I'll, ah, get you something to drink then," he said uncomfortably, pointing a finger in the Kitchen, realizing just how uncomfortable the silence was with a frustrated Saiyan in the room.

"_Fine,_" responded Vegeta with little interest.

Vegeta was enjoying the brief silence when a ruffling of feathers brought his attention downwards to regard the only other presence in the room. Said presence was currently looking up at him with great interest, tilting his head to regard the spiky-haired stranger.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the bird as it leaned in and pecked his leg, as if testing him for edibility. The penguin leaned back to peck the other and suddenly found himself locking eyes with the Saiyan, who was frowning at him with growing impatience.

Both suddenly found themselves caught in a very odd Saiyan vs. Penguin staring contest, with Vegeta still sitting with his arms folded and unmoving. And, for those who would actually need commentary on such an event, it went thusly:

Vegeta stared.

Pen-Pen stared back.

Vegeta glared.

Pen-Pen stared right back some more.

Vegeta scowled.

The bird kept his scrutiny going, budging only to ruffle his feathers.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed, fingers gripping his knees.

Pen-Pen tilted his head.

"_What?_" Vegeta finally barked, glaring his teeth at the annoying avian, suddenly wondering if Penguin was edible and how much energy it would take to flash-fry one.

Sensing his welcome worn, Pen-Pen let out a panicked, "Wark!" and quickly waddled off as fast as his feet would carry him.

The war was over.

The might of the Saiyan race had overcome the penguin menace.

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow, regarding the bird with some bewilderment as it ran off with wings flapping, "Strange…" he murmured as Shinji re-entered, nearly tripping over the fleeing bird in the process before offering the Saiyan a can of juice before sitting back down.

"Your message," prompted Vegeta after downing half the can in one swig.

Shinji hesitated to compose his response before speaking, "I wasn't sure at first, especially since I didn't feel anything different during the fight with the Angel, but now…" he paused, eyes narrowing in thought.

"_Well_?" Vegeta pushed curiously.

"I've confirmed it. I'm not sure how, but I know there can't be any mistake," he answered finally.

"So we were right," Vegeta muttered.

Shinji nodded once in reply, his mind replaying what had happened over and over.

"What happened?" inquired the prince.

"I'm not too sure myself. For some reason it seems kind of hazy. I remember… reaching out and touching the EVA, and I remember how I allowed my thoughts, my feelings, to reach out, but for some reason once I started they just kept coming, like I was drawn to something for a second… I'm sure I remember even calling out for her, _and then_…" he paused, doing his best to explain.

"And then?" prompted Vegeta.

"It… Reactivated itself," said Shinji, staring forwards as if in a daze.

Vegeta tried to keep his voice down below the level of the women arguing in the hallway, "_Reactivated itself_? What did it do?"

Shinji shrugged, "Nothing; Its eyes just glowed as if it were, I don't know, alive in some way. It didn't move, but I _knew_ it was active for those few seconds." Explained Shinji, his eyes meeting Vegeta's now.

"Interesting," muttered the Saiyan, "Did anyone see this happen?"

Shinji's eyebrows rose as he shook his head, "I'm pretty sure Commander Fuyutski saw what happened. But the weird thing was that he didn't seem to do anything about it afterwards, and because of that, I _think_ this means I can move the game even further in our direction."

Vegeta smiled slightly, "The Queen is indeed on the board then. The question is which side she is going to be playing for."

"Well if I can reach her, then _maybe_-" Shinji paused as the door suddenly opened and Misato entered, followed by a pouting Asuka, who flopped down onto the sofa, Misato doing the same but seeming much more pleased with herself.

"Right, now we've got all our little scruples out the way, perhaps we can begin," stated Misato, aiming the words at Asuka and Shinji who both nodded reluctantly in response.

"I'm out of here," said Vegeta, downing the rest of his can and standing up, "I'll see you prior to the battle." And with that the Saiyan exited the apartment without another word being said.

-Z-

And so the seemingly unending days of droning music and synchronization practice began.

It took a couple of days for Misato to realize that it wasn't going too well as both she and Goku kept constant supervision over their practice.

"Ah scheiß!" Asuka cursed as the indicator to her left blinked up an error, the girl having moved a beat ahead of her partner.

"You can't blame that one on me!" Shinji snapped straight away, frustrated at being implicated as the only reason for their constant failures.

"If you would just speed it up a bit!" retorted Asuka, "How can I possibly sink down to such a level as you, you animated vegetable!"

"All right, _Miss Sohryu_," sneered Shinji through gritted teeth, barely constraining his tempter as he flicked his headphones to the floor and jumped up to meet Asuka eye to eye, the female pilot finding herself backing up several paces for safety, "Let me put it to you in words you can understand," he said, and began counting off on his fingers, "_Eins_; your legs are partially longer than mine, zw_ei_; our arms are also of different lengths. This leads on, _surprisingly, _to _drei_; if two people with different limb sizes put in the same amount of effort, one will always be ahead of the other.

Therefore, I ask you, how in the _hell _could I _possibly_ match up with you when you're not even attempting to synch yourself with me and just moving at your own pace?" he practically ranted, keeping the girl eye to eye and closing on her step by step as he spoke, Asuka soon finding herself backed quite literally into a corner by the Third Child's argument.

Asuka shook her head as if she were trying to dislodge the shock caused by Shinji's words and in turn try to find her own voice again. She flicked her hand up and stabbed a finger back, retorting in as forceful a way once can with the Third Child glowering at you from point blank range, "Well if you weren't so damn slow then maybe it would be easier!"

Shinji shook his head in utter frustration, looking about ready to tear his own hair out, "_God_, you just don't get it, do you!" He shouted back in her face, the Second Child backing up her only free step and finding herself bumping into the wall.

Shinji seethed for a second before shaking his head and storming off towards the door, swerving to avoid Misato's hand as she attempted to put it on his arm. As he reached the exit, he suddenly felt that all the attempts he had made at solidifying any friendship with the girl, all the effort and emotional strain he had put himself under an attempt to figure out the German redhead, had been entirely futile.

It was also in that instant that he decided to drop the effort in its entirety. He was tired, his mind had been under so much pressure lately, and the constant negative oppression from the girl that he had _tried_ to be friends with burned up within him.

His face fell from a frustrated glare into a cold snarl as the Third Child suddenly halted at the threshold and, staring straight ahead, said in a voice that was as calm and cold as it was teethed with venom, "We're done, Asuka…"

And, saying nothing more, he walked out of the apartment, the only sound audible being the mechanical hum of the door opening and closing behind him.

Misato could barely breathe from the shock of the outburst. Asuka however, her face looked like someone had just scored a clean punch to her gut.

Misato watched as the redhead forced her emotions into anger, her teeth grinding as she desperately held back the feelings she dared not face, the ones hidden behind that dark door in her mind... the one with the ripped doll behind it.

"And you're just going to _let __him_ talk to me like that?" The redhead shrieked at the Operations Director, who was now massaging her temples.

"This is not good," She mumbled under her voice as Asuka began to rant incoherently over the Third Child's attitude and how he dared use such words against her, "Goku, could you-" Misato halted as she noticed that the Saiyan, who had been standing next to her just moments before, had disappeared. The captain sank down into the chair behind her, head in hands as Asuka continued shouting in the background...

In truth, what the redhead was doing was trying to silence with all her might the voice from behind that darkened door, the one that had suddenly begun whispering to her one word, over and over and over…

_'Alone…_'

-Z-

"That was a bit harsh, you know," said Goku as he leaned with his back against the guardrail that separated the Saiyan encampment from the sheer drop over the cliff, the pilot himself leaning forward over it and listlessly staring out over the clouded city. The Saiyan had taken Shinji away back to their camp after slipping out of the apartment after him, knowing the Third Child needed some time away from that environment, if only for a brief period.

"Really?" asked Shinji with a grunt, "I thought it was a rather fair statement."

"Do you really believe that?"

There was no response.

Goku sighed, "You know she isn't as happy _or_ as strong as she's making out."

"Been reading her personnel file have you?" muttered the pilot in response, still staring out over the cityscape.

"Not at all," said Goku with a small shrug, "It's written all over her face. She's baring a great pain, and if you ask me, she just doesn't know how to feel about, well, _anything_ really."

Shinji nodded slightly. At the core he knew this already, and like usual, Goku voiced what he was feeling, and also what was frustrating him, "I don't have to _like_ her you know. I've just got to work with her."

"_I think_ though," said Goku, "you would prefer to do both."

"But she's too painful to feel for…" said Shinji quietly after a pause.

"Maybe…" admitted Goku, "But I think she needs you, or at least your compassion. Even if she does make it painful to give, she still needs it anyway."

"Are you saying I've go be the hero on this front too?" asked Shinji, managing a weak smile.

"Such a mind reader…" said Goku, grinning sheepishly.

Shinji laughed softly, "And I thought that was your department."

Goku smiled as silence returned between them. After a moment, the Saiyan let out a long breath before asking, "Ready to go home now?"

"Am I ready to go dance with the devil?" Asked the pilot, pausing for a moment before turning to Goku "Sure, why not," he said, smiling confidently, "Sounds like fun…"

Goku grinned and grasped Shinji by the shoulder, both disappearing in a shimmer a second later.

-Z-

Shinji walked up the stairs of the apartment building slowly, his thoughts more clouded than the skies above him as he desperately tried to work out how best to handle the situation. To say he lacked decent interpersonal skills would be a stark understatement, so just how was he supposed to deal with an emotionally unstable and, _apparently_, unhappy girl?

He reached his own floor, eyes still narrowed down in thought as he approached the apartment door.

He then suddenly noticed the presence of the person blocking his path, and was clearly waiting for him.

"Asuka…" said Shinji has he looked up, his storm blue eyes meeting her sapphire blue ones.

The girl stood, blocking the door with her arms planted firmly on her hips. She said nothing, just staring into the eyes of her co-pilot with an unreadable expression like a red-haired roadblock.

'This is going nowhere,' thought Shinji with a sigh, moving to pass her and, as if on cue, just as his arm moved to gently nudge her aside, Asuka's hand suddenly shot out and grasped firmly onto Shinji's own.

Shinji didn't have time to question anything as the redhead suddenly moved, dragging him off towards the stairwell, 'well…' he thought with bemusement, 'I _guess_ this is something,' and, to his surprise, as the Second Child reached the stairs, she turned and headed upwards, tugging Shinji along all the while with a shockingly firm grasp.

'Well, either she wants to talk on the roof or I'm about to be hurled to my death. Either way; issues resolved.'

After two flights, the Second Child burst free onto the rooftop and kicked the door shut behind her. In one fluidic movement, Asuka swung around and pinned the Third child up against the nearby fence, her lower arm pressed firmly against his throat. She brought her face up level to his, eye-to-eye once more...

Silence descended again.

Shinji didn't move, nor could he courtesy of Asuka's knee pressed into his lower abdomen. He let Asuka hold his gaze as both seemed to search for what to say.

Two minutes passed.

"_Why?_" Asuka suddenly whispered, tilting her head and keeping her eyes locked with Shinji's.

Shinji's voice was surprisingly level considering his position, "I think you know why."

"Then what am I supposed to say then?" demanded Asuka, her voice still a coarse whisper.

"Oh, I think you know that already too," replied Shinji, his gaze narrowing.

Asuka held for half a minute, before slowly managing to breathe out under her voice, "I'm sorry…"

"Likewise," said Shinji instantly, smiling abruptly and sliding to the left out of Asuka's pin, striding slowly across the roof, one hand behind his back and the other subtly rubbing his throat.

"W-what?" she stammered, "Just like that?"

Shinji stopped and turned around, grinning, "Just like that," he replied, nodding his head, "I'm sorry for what I said, and you're sorry for what you did: QED, we're all happy, God's in his heaven and all's right with the world," explained Shinji rapidly before turning about and sitting down on the nearby stone bench.

Asuka walked over to the guard rail in front of the bench and leaned against it, speaking quietly once more, "Then tell me _why,_" She asked, "I need to know."

Shinji's smile vanished as he felt the mood shift, his voice slightly melancholic, "You make it painful for people to get to know you, Asuka. You haven't exactly been the nicest person to me or to my friends. And so the answer to your question I suppose, is another question; what motivates you to push people away when they try to get to know you?"

Asuka's slender fingers gripped the rail as she thought, her head dropping slightly, "That's not a simple question, Shinji. I am the way I am."

"Why?

"I just _am_!" She snapped, her head still down and Shinji noticed her hands gripping the chain link fence dangerously tight.

"Alright," said Shinji quietly, "I'll accept it." He said, reaching over and grasping her wrists softly, pulling them back.

Asuka gasped as she felt the soft contact of the Third's hands, idly noting that he really did have the gentle touch of a musician, and not a warrior who fights giant monsters on a regular basis. She allowed her hands to slip free of the fence and be pulled back. She smiled despite herself, "Now don't you get too familiar, Third Child," said Asuka, finding it difficult to put conviction in her voice however. Her eyes cleared as she stood back up fully, and yet not pulling her hands away from the boy's grasp.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, my lady," joked Shinji, sliding his hands away and slipping them back into his pockets.

Asuka growled, she could feeling Shinji smirking behind her, "And don't you forget it. Now come on, Idiot, we've got work to do!" She suddenly ordered, spinning round and walking off, Shinji not noticing her gripping her own arms, as if trying to retain the memory of contact for some reason.

"Yes, ma'am," called Shinji, mock saluting her before following on behind.

'He's right, I guess,' thought Shinji as he walked, 'I _don't_ want to hate her,' and, smiling as he went, the Third Child departed the roof, ready to restart their coordination drills.

-Z-

It was three days into their training that the two remaining stooges decided to take a look in on their missing pal.

"Three days and nothing," said Aida as the elevator ascended.

Toji frowned "Yeah, I wonder what Shinji could be up to that would keep him out of school like this."

Both stepped onto the landing, immediately noticing the presence of the class representative as she departed the other elevator.

"Hey, it's the class rep."

"Well If it isn't two of the three stooges." replied the girl with pleasant surprise.

"What are you doing here?" asked Aida as they approached their respective destination.

"To check up on Ms. Sohryu, and you?"

"To look in on Shinji," replied Aida as they found themselves stopping outside the same door.

"Why did you stop here?" All three chorused as they hit the doorbell.

Another pair of disturbingly chorused voices replied over the intercom, "Coming…"

All three looked to each in confusion, turning back to the door as it opened.

Suddenly, standing there in the doorway was the very unpleasant sight of Shinji and Asuka in matching leotards.

"By _god!_" Aida recoiled in abject horror.

"Y-you've betrayed us!" Toji added with a similar look of disgust.

"My eyes," cried Kensuke, "they burn!"

Hikari's eye twitched, the inappropriateness of the situation hitting her hard.

"I can't believe this!" groaned Toji.

"Neither can we!" the pilots chorused in union, "It's all Misato's fault. Because of her we've gotta eat, breathe and even _sleep_ together!" And no, they didn't think about how that sounded until after it left their mouths.

"Eeek!" Came the almost girlish shriek from Kensuke.

"Oh by God, Shinji, you've sold you're soul to the devil! How _could you_!" said Toji, "I mean I know she's not the ugliest girl in the world but _jeez!_"

"I can't believe you're living in sin, that's awful!" Hikari finally snapped, hiding her face in her palms.

"No, you don't understand. It's not like that!" they both said, again in unwilling synchronization.

"Then what is it like?" moaned the class rep, unwilling to look up again.

"Hi there, everybody!" chimed Misato from the side, all turning to see that the purple haired woman had arrived in the corridor, accompanied by the smiling form of Goten.

"Would you be as kind as to explain all of this to us?" asked Toji, stabbing a thumb at the pair of blushing pilots.

"Please do," said both pilots in time with each other, "they're not listening to a word we say."

Misato smiled, "Well, why don't we all go in and chat then. Coming, Goten?" She asked, smiling at the small child, who she had decided to let tag along after her visit to see the other Saiyans.

The others began filing in after the pilots as Goten entered alongside Misato. He glanced up at her as they entered, "Hey, what's up with their voices? Did they do fusion and somehow mess it up?"

Misato just smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Something like that..."

"ooh."

-Z-

"Jeez, Shinji, you could have at least told us about that part first!" joked Toji, his relief clear in his voice now everything had been explained; thankful to the gods that the demon hadn't swallowed his friend's soul after all.

Hikari was also relieved to say the least. She patted the interesting warm water penguin on her lap, said Penguin having been pretty much the center of Goten's attention for the past five minutes. The situation seemed mutual as the avian regarded the boy back, Goten's stare arguably more clueless than the bird's.

"ahh…_hi_!" Goten finally said after gawking for a long moment.

"Wark!" The bird replied, flapping its wings once in greeting.

"Wark!" echoed Goten with a grin.

The bird suddenly looked quite taken aback, primarily due to the fact that 'small spiky human-but-not-human' as the avian had dubbed him, had just said 'hello' in prefect Penguin, albeit with the penguin equivalent of a Canadian accent.

Hikari laughed as she watched them communicate before turning her attention to Misato, "So, how are their drills coming along, Miss Katsuragi?"

She sighed, "Well at first it seemed like a doomed cause, but as you can see... they're not doing _too_ badly," she said with mild surprise, indicating the two pilots as they practiced their manoeuvres, both with an intense look of concentration as they attempted to match one another's pace.

"I gotta say, I'm surprised," said Toji, "I wouldn't have thought it possible in a million years for those two to work in harmony."

Misato inclined her head acceptingly, "Yeah, at first I was seriously skeptical. I even considered bringing Rei over as an incentive for Asuka to try to match her pace better; reverse psychology and all that…" Misato said, her tone quiet lest Asuka hear what she had been planning.

Toji grinned as he saw an opportunity," Yeah, I'm just surprised Shinji has lasted _this_ long without seeing his girlfriend. How frustrated he must feel," he said, just loud enough for Shinji to hear.

Kensuke took the incentive, "Yeah," he sighed, "how lonely his blue haired beauty must be feeling without her _man_ around."

Both teens smirked as, seconds later, a loud crash filled the room as Shinji, who had been in mid-twirl on the pad, slipped completely up on the smooth surface and landed with a smack face-first into the carpeted floor.

Asuka turned left at the sound of the error buzzer to see the collapsed form of her co-pilot. Shinji pulled himself up, sporting a large red mark on his cheek which he now cradled in one hand.

"What's wrong?" asked Asuka with a frown, disappointed at the screw-up considering how well they had been doing that round.

"Nothing," groaned Shinji, sneering over his hand at the two boys, "I just got kind of…_distracted_," he muttered, glaring at Toji and Kensuke, who could only burst into laughter at the response.

"Now, boys," chided Misato from behind her beer can to hide the grin on her face, "don't tease. This is important you know."

"_Yeah,_" snapped Asuka, "put a sock in it stooges! Or would you _prefer_ that Angel to come along in a few days and stomp you into mush…though personally I feel that may be an improvement in your case."

Both fell silent, realizing that correcting the Second Child by mentioning the Saiyan presence would only serve to anger her further.

"Let's get on with it," sighed Shinji as he stood up, attempting to refocus his attention on the task in hand.

Toji and Kensuke were right about just what was the reason was for his mistake. What they didn't know however, was the emotion behind it.

Shinji was still getting to grips with what he knew about Unit-01, and he was deathly certain that there was one thing he knew he still wasn't ready to deal with right now, and that thing was Rei.

-Z-

And so training continued…

The days rolled over and the pilots found themselves increasing their pace on an upward tangent, the movements of the pair increasing in complexity and the sync indicator increasing more and more as each night passed

Finally, after 5 days, both indicators finally hit their holy grail of a target:

100.00

-Z-

And so, the night of the tenth rolled over, the night before what was classified warmly as 'D-day'. It had been seven days of early mornings and very late nights, but the pilots turned in relatively sure they were ready for what lay ahead.

It was by this evening that Shinji had dared let his mind progress onto further matters beyond the up and coming rematch with Israphel, and onto what he knew or at least suspected about Unit-01. It basically left the Third Child in silence. He didn't even bother to reach for his SDAT that night; he had no intention of drowning out his thoughts, no matter how painful they may be.

Shinji's distraction was also why he barely even paid attention to Asuka's statement about how they were sleeping separately that night, and also how any violation of this rule could cost the pilot his life. Shinji replied to pretty much all of Asuka's words and warnings with disinterested 'uh-huh's.

By the time night had fallen Shinji's mind had become totally exhausted, and combined with a lack of music to keep him awake, he had fallen into a deep and silent sleep.

It was a sleep so heavy that he didn't even stir when the silent form of the Second child collapsed into bed beside him, her quiet cry going unheard; her tears unseen.

-Z-

_Next morning…_

Asuka was the first to stir as the dawn light filtered through the thin curtains, drawing her back to consciousness. Her sapphire blue eyes fluttered open as she moved to stretch, however her brain stopped her from doing so as she registered the presence in front of her.

She processed straight away Shinji's presence in her bed, and immediately resorted to her first instinct and raised her hand back, clenching it into a fist. However, she then paused, suddenly realizing that something was amiss.

This wasn't _her_ bed.

Asuka's hand lowered slowly as it finally dawned on her what had happened 'oh God, I did it again…' she thought, her eyes falling.

This wasn't the first time she had sleepwalked. However she hadn't done it for years and had at least hoped she was over it, 'And why did I come to you?' her mind asked silently as she regarded the silent and peaceful form of Shinji Ikari. Slowly, and very carefully, she pulled back, raising the blanket behind her to slip out. She moved her leg back to push out, almost home free…

Only to knee the Third Child in the gut accidentally.

Asuka froze. She waited for a moment, watching as his body made no movement and so she let out a sigh of relief and looked down.

Again she froze.

A shocked pair of storm blue eyes was staring back at her, right back into her own terrified sapphire ones…

Asuka's breath caught in her throat.

Shinji blinked once.

"Umm…" mumbled Asuka, glancing off to the side.

Shinji blinked twice…

Asuka tried laughing as innocently as possible.

Shinji blinked a third time…

"Shin-"

"**YAAAAAAAAH!**" screamed Shinji, catapulting himself out from under the covers and scrambling back until he felt the wall behind him.

He stabbed a shaking finger at the redhead as his body tried to assimilate the released adrenaline without causing a heart attack.

"Wh-What are you doing here!" He shouted, "In _my _be-" he was abruptly cut off as a red and yellow blur shot out from under the covers. An instant later Shinji suddenly found a hand clamped over his mouth and a knee planted firmly in his gut, knocking the wind out of him as the Second Child pinned him down with all her strength.

"Put a sock in it, Third Child or I'll knock your block off!" she hissed as Shinji mumbled a protest into her hand, the girl hoping to God Shinji's outburst hadn't alerted their guardian, assuming she was actually in residence.

Shinji realized his choices were either shut the hell up, or asphyxiation and a beating, and though he hated to admit it, he knew Asuka held the physical advantage over him in strength and a fight was something could neither do with, nor win in his opinion.

"Well?" She whispered, emphasizing by pressing her hand down harder and forcing her knee deeper.

Shinji rolled his eyes and gave a muffled, "Mph huh,", nodding his head.

Asuka exhaled a breath, disengaging herself from the pilot and giving Shinji a chance to breathe and massage his chest.

The Second Child crawled back and slumped down against the wall next to Shinji as he brushed off several beads of cold sweat.

Shinji took a calm breath, "…An explanation would be nice," He asked, mopping his watering eyes and frowning a bit.

Asuka's head fell as she averted her eyes from the boy, "It's… a personal thing."

Shinji cocked his head, "I grasped that much," replied Shinji, laughing with slight incredulousness.

"You _don't_ understand, Shinji," she mumbled, keeping her voice low.

"Try me," offered Shinji.

"So what!" she snapped, causing Shinji to flinch slightly, "I sleepwalked and ended up somewhere I shouldn't have been, big deal!"

"Alright then…" replied Shinji calmly, knowing she was just throwing up her defenses again, but he decided to leave her be. Forcing it would only do more damage than good.

"Just…" she began, trailing off, "I would _appreciate_ it if you…"she continued, stopping again.

Shinji turned to look at her, smiling reassuringly, "I won't tell anyone, you have my word."

Asuka managed to smile weakly in reply, "Thanks…"

"_Well,_" said Shinji, stretching widely as he pulled himself up, Asuka's eyes following him, "I guess we'd better get ready. We've got an appointment with an Angel."

"Right!" affirmed Asuka, jumping up to go and prepare herself for the upcoming event.

-Z-

The Angel's feet crashed through the last of the remaining tanks, simultaneously shaking off the last missile strike as it marched onwards towards Tokyo-3 and its ultimate goal. As far as the Angel was concerned it had already proven itself against the Lillim's creations once and, if necessary, it would do so again…

-Z-

"The target just broke through the final defensive line at Gora," said Aoba as he read the current updates from the front line.

"Here it comes…" said Misato as she eyed the regenerated Angel, "We won't fail this time."

The Captain turned the monitor feed to the waiting Units 01 and 02 and began issuing her orders, "Right, spread you're AT fields the second the music starts, then follow the operation's choreography. Are you two ready?"

"Ready!" The waiting pilots chorused.

"The target has just entered the mountains," said Maya over the intercom.

"Just remember the moves, Shinji: full power; maximum performance," said Asuka, a predatory grin on her face as she gripped the controls and eyed the Angel.

"I know; we'll be finished in exactly sixty-two seconds... as will the Angel," replied Shinji, lowering his head to regard the target.

Vegeta stood on a nearby mountaintop with his arms folded. He had one of Bulma's reproduced scouters on his ear tuned into the NERV communications channels as he watched the Angel's approach.

"Well then," said Vegeta, a smirk spreading across his face as he clicked his scouter, "Let's just see what you can do." He watched as the device on his eye brought up two circles indicating the EVAs below.

He heard Misato's order to detach external power supplies and the following launch order. The scouter immediately brought up a timer set to one minute two seconds, at the end of which the Angel would either be dead, or he would be readying himself to enter combat.

The Saiyan staggered, cursing as music abruptly blasted down his right ear, the depth indicator for the two power levels representing the EVAs rapidly decreasing as they approached the surface…

-Z-

"Well, here goes nothing," Misato mumbled as the two EVAs broke free onto the surface, catapulted into mid-air by the platforms.

Both pulled themselves up to full height in mid-air above the angel, drawing out their twin lances and hurtling them down at the enemy, who effortlessly them blocked both as expected.

As the Angel recovered from its defense, a gigantic blade shot out of the ground under its feet, cleaving it cleanly into its two component parts.

Unit-01 and 02 landed simultaneously, grabbing the revealed pallet rifle and positron cannon respectively and firing off perfectly timed volleys into the first Angel's core, disorientating it for a second.

Both EVAs immediately discarded their weapons, sliding closer together and jumping into synchronous back flips as the second half of the Angel fired off its particle beam repeatedly, missing as the EVAs dropped onto a platform, activating a pr-prepared armor plate, which in turn shot up and took the force of the Angel's volleys.

Both EVAs grabbed their pallet rifles and fired off directly at each angel. The Angels retaliated, leaping up into the air and dropping down onto where the EVAs had been standing a second earlier, missing their intended targets and slicing the remains of the armour plate into ribbons.

Misato immediately ordered the firing of the inner defensive line which immediately began bombarding the Angels directly through their neutralized AT fields.

Vegeta didn't flinch as the mountain he was standing on was leveled around him by NERV's attack on the Angel. Unfazed, the warrior took flight straight upwards to watch as the staggered Angel halves recoiled. With perfect timing, Units 01 and 02 swung round and kicked each Angel with equal parts ferocity and grace, forcing the two segments to fold back into each other and knocking them back into the mountainside, exposing both of its red cores in the process.

The two EVAs crouched low and leapt up into the skies, spinning round in perfect form and thrusting their AT fields backwards, propelling themselves downwards at the enemy, their giant feet crashing into the cores of the Angel at the exact same time, shattering them clean open.

Everyone on the command bridge gasped in awe as the EVAs finished their form, the Angel convulsing for a second before resorting to its usual final act and self-destructing.

The area lit up in an eruption of blinding light as the twin cores went critical, expanding into a mushroom blast that rose upwards for miles, vaporizing the Angel and decimating the surrounding landscape.

Vegeta covered his eyes with one arm as the upward blast engulfed him. It seethed around his invisible aura like a demon desperate to devour him whole before dissipating a moment later.

Slowly, the smoke cleared.

All that remained was two twin glowing crosses in the air, a pair of collapsed EVAs, and one really big hole in the ground.

"Hmph, not bad," admitted the Saiyan, "for a couple of brats, "he said swinging quickly about and shooting off, completely oblivious to the fact that the back of his shirt was on fire…

-Z-

"We blew the landing, didn't we…" mumbled Shinji in a hollow voice from his upside down position in the entry plug, his EVA currently sprawled out on top of Asuka's.

"Well I'm not taking the blame for this one," grumbled Asuka in a similar tone.

"Me neither,"

"Then we're agreed."

"Yes."

"Good."

"Are you as tired as I am?"

"Hells yes."

"Want to just go back to sleep?"

"I am so there…"

Both pilots didn't bother reporting back in. Instead, in one final act of synchronization, they reached out and cut off their links to NERV central, curling up contentedly in their respective entry plugs and choosing to catch up on a weeks' worth of lost sleep until the rescue teams arrived.

-Z-

Kaji blinked at the screen, "Umm, what just happened?"

"How the _hell _should I know?" moaned Misato, giving up on working out how the teens' minds worked, "I'm just the one in charge."

"_Kids_…" groaned Fuyutski, massaging his brow as he looked at the EVAs collapsed in a heap, "Why god do we have to use _kids?_" and, sighing tiredly, he spun around and walked off the command deck, ready to go inform the supreme commander of their _staggering_ victory.

_-Z-_

_To be continued…_

[A/N] Well it's been fun catching up on this one, hope you had fun reading. I do recall these past couple of chapters were more NERV than Saiyan orientated, though I recall one of the tricky things about writing this fic was keeping the two sides of the story in balance without one out shadowing the other too badly, but I assure you, be you NERV or DBZ fan, both sides will get their chances to shine. I'll hope to get the next chapter up ASAP, in which all the progressive knives will be digitally replaced with giant walkie-talkies, _ciao_!

See you in Chapter 12: Revelation's Consequence.


	12. Chapter 12: Revelation's Consequence

[A/N] And I'm still here! It's time to thank you all once more for your words of encouragement, they really inspire me to keep going. Interesting to see how you've voted in the poll, it's given me some great ideas with the current leader. It's nice to know you're all still paying attention out there after all this time. Anyways, it's time to make this fic 20% cooler and clear it up in ten seconds flat!

And if it's not out for a week, I apologise for boasting…

**Chapter 12: Revelation's Consequence**

"Have you finished the reprogramming?" enquired Vegeta, his arms folded, the image of his wife on the capsule house's wall screen via the trans-dimensional linkup.

Bulma sighed and rolled her eyes, "Yes, oh _dearest one_. Even though you only gave me _two days_ to finish, I've somehow managed to compile the code and get it up and running satisfactorily –though it's still beta, so don't blame me if it's a bit glitch. The upload to your scouter should be happening right about now. The code should compile itself as soon as it's copied over, so there's no need to mess about with it," explained the scientist and, just as promised, the scouter on the table in the centre of the room blinked to life and began working away, it's translucent green eye-screen covered in lines of code as the update began.

"And will it do as I asked?" asked Vegeta as he picked up the small device and fixed it to his ear, the display blinking off as the upload finished.

Bulma sighed once more, "Yes, Vegeta dear. Besides all of its usual functions it's been uploaded with all the NERV top level command codes you'll need. The security interface system has been installed too. Rewriting an entire firmware wasn't easy in that timescale to say the least; I never thought I'd ever have to pull an all-nighter to do an emergency jailbreak on one of my own devices.

Its detection systems have been upgraded too. I've programmed in a pseudo stealth-ops mode, which will allow it to trigger and differentiate between extremely low power levels approaching within fifty metres in any direction.

The upgrade applies to the opposite end of the scale too; by using a series of predictive algorithms and shutoff procedures on the input gate –and judging by the look on your face I just lost you, so I'll just say that it can now work to accommodate some of your much higher power levels without the damned thing blowing to pieces on you. That's the best I can do I'm afraid."

"It'll do," Vegeta replied, pulling the device off his ear and rolling it about in his hands.

"But what I don't understand is _why_ you would want something like this," said Bulma, folding her hands on top of her work bench.

"It's not for me," said Vegeta simply, "What about the overlay functions?"

"Those were a little trickier to program in considering the way a scouter works, but after doing a bit of tweaking with the display drivers, I've managed to install a basic map overlaying feature like you asked. It should be simple enough to use and I've uploaded basic instructions for its use to you, it shouldn't take you too long to figure out. And just in case, I've programmed in a function that will cause the power cells to overload and fry the entire system; a _self-destruct_ if you will, just make sure you're not wearing it when it goes off."

Vegeta pondered this for a minute, nodding in thought before turning to face the screen, "You've done well, Bulma. I'm impressed."

Bulma couldn't help but blush slightly; praise from her husband was sparse to say the least.

Vegeta looked back down to return the scouter to its capsule when Bulma suddenly spoke again, "H-how are you?"

Vegeta blinked and looked back up, pausing to compose a reply first, "You expected me to be injured by the likes of this world's occupants?" he asked, trying to sound insulted, never letting anyone know when he was touched by concern.

Bulma smiled weakly, "No, of course not…"

Vegeta turned sideways to hide his subtle blush and began pacing slowly, "The boys are fine, as is Kakarot. Is there anything else?"

"I could ask the same."

"What?"

"I mean,how are things on the monster-fighting front?"

Vegeta shrugged, folding his arms, "As expected, they've proved little threat so far."

"So I've seen…" Bulma said, having already reviewed the data sent to her earlier by Vegeta, but wanted to hear it from her husband's mouth anyway.

"Well, I've got work to do. I've got to deliver this to its future owner," said Vegeta, gripping the capsule between two fingers.

"Okay then…" She replied as Vegeta moved to unhook the generator that powered the link.

She suddenly spoke up again, "Vegeta!"

"What?" he asked with characteristic impatience.

"Take care…"

Vegeta seemed taken aback for an instant before shooting back one of his rarely seen smiles to his wife, reassuring her more than words ever could as he pulled the power on the link, the screen going dead…

-Z-

Bulma turned about to face the other occupant of the room who had been standing just out of view of the camera's lens.

"Are you _sure_ about this?" asked Bulma.

Gohan nodded firmly, "I'm sure, believe me," he answered walking over to her, still clad in his Orange Star High uniform.

"Then why didn't you tell them?"

"Dissuasion is something I really don't want on this. You know what Vegeta would say."

"Yeah, I guess. Well I suppose you had better get to work then," Bulma said, standing up and unlocking a nearby security drawer, handing the compass-shaped device within to the teenage half-Saiyan.

"I'm on it!" Gohan said, turning round and heading out of the lab at a quick pace.

"And you take care too…" Bulma said quietly as she turned and went back to her work. With the exception of the distant sounds her parent's pets made, the now all-too quiet halls of the Capsule Corp. headquarters echoed around her…

-Z-

Shinji's life, in his humble opinion, had become most interesting of late, and by interesting he meant a cross between disturbing, annoying, and tolerable: Disturbing for obvious reasons; annoying due to the fact that his formerly temporary roommate now had a more permanent posting in his domicile; and tolerable… _Well_, he had begun to realise as of late that life does have certain upsides to it after all.

Groaning from the rude awakening from his mid-Sunday do-sweet-nothing time, which basically consisted of laying on the couch either watching TV or just pondering his thoughts, Shinji slowly pulled himself up and headed for the door to see who dared disturb his peace time, not that he could _do_ anything about it, but he felt it helped to be annoyed anyway.

Shinji gave a slight start as he slid the door open to reveal the waiting form of Vegeta.

"Do you _always_ keep people waiting that long?" growled the Saiyan.

"Give me a break," sighed Shinji, adding mentally 'considering you just took mine away', he covered his mouth to yawn, "Anyways, would you like to come in?" he offered, stepping aside to allow the Saiyan entry. Just as he closed the door his eyes were drawn back down to street level, and more importantly to the group of black suited figures looking back up at him, one with a pair of binoculars trained in his direction.

'Father is getting suspicious…'

-Z-

Sitting down at the kitchen table, Shinji sat back and stretched, "What can I do for you? Or is this a social call?"

The Saiyan rolled his eyes, folding his arms and preferring to remain standing, "Yes, of course; I just came to chat with simply _adorable_ redhead and enjoy your guardian's gourmet cooking."

"Huh?"

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow up, "Ask a stupid question; get a stupid answer."

"Okay then, what _are_ you here for then?" asked Shinji, his curiosity elevated above his former annoyance.

The Prince looked about, "Is this place secure?"

Shinji nodded, "I once asked Misato about that in passing, she said one of the first things she did after moving in was sweep the place for bugs. I'm pretty sure she does it on a regular basis. I've got to admit I'm glad for her paranoia."

"I would hardly call it paranoia, given the circumstances."

"Perhaps," admitted Shinji who, despite himself, stood up and turned on a tap loudly to cover their voices; you could never be too careful, "so how can I help you?"

"I came to drop a couple of things off for you," said Vegeta, stepping forward.

"Oh?"

"First," Vegeta said, pulling out an optical disc and placing it on the table in front of the pilot.

Shinji frowned and picked up the blank-labelled CD, "And what's this?"

"An instruction manual," replied the prince.

"For what?" asked Shinji, turning the disc over in his hands.

"This;" said Vegeta, and Shinji looked up as to see him retrieve a very small capsule from his pocket. Pushing the controller on the top, he tossed it down onto the table in front of the pilot, the capsule bursting open a second later with a cloud of smoke and revealing a familiar device.

Shinji reached out slowly and gingerly picked up the strange piece of technology which, Vegeta had noted, looked identical to the scouters used by both himself earlier in his life and also the tyrant Frieza and his men. The only visible difference was the capsule corp. logo emblazoned on the side and an additional button for returning the device to its capsule.

Examining it closely, Shinji asked, "W-what is this?"

Vegeta nodded at it, "A scouter; an advanced communications and energy detections device, slightly remodelled to suit your needs. It fits over your ear and the button on the side is used to cycle between functions."

"To suit my needs?" asked Shinji, "How?"

"Think of it as a portable ki detector, useful if you want to know if someone's coming. It also has a built in map overlay and extreme range communicator. We've added a security interface also, which should be able to unlock any security door you happen to come into contact with."

"Wow…" replied the pilot in awe and he flinched as his finger accidentally clicked the button on the side. The device whirred as the digital display flared up, he noticed it stop with a yellow circle in the centre. Shinji turned the device about discover there was a number beside the circle.

"Congratulations," said Vegeta, "You just took your own power level."

Shinji cocked his head, "Hey, I'm at level 5.6. Is…that good?" Vegeta seemed too amused to respond and watched as Shinji clicked the button again, this time aiming it at back at the Saiyan as he fitted it over his right ear.

Vegeta watched with a smirk as Shinji swallowed a gulp, observing as the numbers climbed higher and higher, the digits going quickly from tens to hundreds, to thousands, to hundreds of thousands and then to figures Shinji didn't quite like to think about when comparing it against a regular human like himself. The Saiyan shrugged, "I'm keeping my power level suppressed right now, so don't worry if the device makes me seem far weaker than I actually am."

Shinji's eyebrows rose, "This is _suppressed?_" he gaped. If people could be measured in horsepower, he'd be a windup car sitting in front of a supersonic jet.

Setting the device down again, he turned his attention back to Vegeta, "There are several more features I think you should become accustomed to first however."

"_More_ features? Talk about multifunctional…"

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow at his comment, "Yes. Well, I would appreciate it if you didn't allow anyone to see you with that thing. I would rather not have our technology falling into certain hands."

Shinji nodded, "You don't need to tell me that twice, believe me. And so everything I need to know is on here then?" he asked, holding up the CD.

"Yes, I suggest you familiarise yourself with it. I think you'll find that device will come in veryhandy."

"Thanks," Shinji said with a smile, more than happy the little gift.

As silence descended, Shinji drummed his tables on the table edge, "Umm, so… do you want drink or something?" He offered, remembering to remain the polite host.

Vegeta grumbled, realising he _was_ a bit parched, "Sure, why not."

Smiling, Shinji dug into the fridge, retrieving a can of orange for the Saiyan and a lemonade for himself, "_So_…" Shinji said, twiddling his thumbs as he fought to open a conversation, "Missing home at all?"

Vegeta humphed from behind his can as he took a long swig from it, "_home_, is wherever the fight is," preached the Saiyan in his usual tone, not often one for dishing out Saiyan philosophical comments.

"I… See," lied Shinjit.

Vegeta looked about himself, "And how is _home?_" Vegeta enquired, knowing full well about the redhead's moving in.

"You've _met_ Asuka, right?"

Vegeta nodded once as he downed the remainder of his drink, idly compacting the can down to the size of a garden pea in his hand afterwards.

"Then _guess…_"

"Hah!" spat Vegeta, "_Women_…"

"I'm reading you on that one," Shinji said, laughing slightly.

Vegeta couldn't help but grin as well, "_So_, which one?"

Shinji frowned, "Which one what?"

"Which one have you chosen as your mate?" asked Vegeta, never really grasping the human obsession for subtlety in their mating rituals.

"My _What_?" Shinji spluttered, inadvertently inhaling half a mouthful of lemonade in the process. Blushing furiously and wiping down his nose, he did his best to keep his voice level, "W-what on Earth would make you think I've taken one as my… my…" he trailed off, unwilling to actually say the word.

"What?" asked Vegeta with a shrug, "I don't see _why,_" he said dismissively, "It would probably do that redheaded brat good having a man in her life; it might teach her her place."

"_What?_" gaped Shinji, thinking incredulously to himself, 'Her _place,_ he says! In that case I know the only place she would enjoy: Me on the ground, unconscious, with her standing over me and leering down for even _thinking_ about putting her in her 'place'.'

"I see, then that Katsuragi," offered Vegeta, "she has spirit, she would make a fine mate for you; strong and spirited as I've seen, for a human woman." He said with utter nonchalance, but secretly enjoying the way the Third Child's skin tone shifted further and further up the red end of the colour spectrum.

"N-no" Shinji protested as best he could, his rebellious mind not helping things by conjuring images of himself and Misato 'mating' in the Saiyan way, not that he had any idea what that was, but judging from Vegeta, Shinji had some general ideas.

Vegeta pushed further, unknowingly going beyond even Misato's boundaries of teasing and into the depths of his own depths of teasing, which he normally reserved for taunting an enemy into attacking him in a screaming fury…which was usually his favourite bit, "What?" he asked, tilting an eyebrow up, "You prefer _men_ or something?" Shinji opened his mouth wide to object, but Vegeta continued on, "Not that there's anything _wrong_ with that of course. I mean, there was this green haired fool I once knew; I mean… we never mentioned anything, but we all knew…"

"I am not gay!" Shinji half shrieked, slamming a fist into the table at the accusation, the level of the reaction pleasing the Saiyan to no end. Shinji then realised being teased by Vegeta was a battle already lost and now the Saiyan was just kicking him when he was down.

Vegeta chuckled under his breath; he still had it.

Once more, he decided, for old time's sake.

The Saiyan raised his eyebrows in mock intrigue "I see, so you would prefer to take _both_ then?" he nodded ponderingly, "I admire you in your courage. Your stamina must be more impressive than I first assumed." he said, hiding a sly grin.

Shinji just slumped forward and proceeded to bash his head off the table surface as he was bombarded by images of his two flatmates and himself 'together'.

He groaned and looked up over his fingers, "You're _evil_, has anyone ever said that?"

Vegeta looked off to the side in thought for a second, "I'm afraid I lost count of the number of times when it reached into seven figures, though it's usually preceded by the word 'you' and followed by the word 'monster', and then there's often the usual string of pleas for me to stop killing them and ending their civilisation." he said, shrugging the memory off, noticing Shinji's eyes widening slightly. He smirked slightly in response, "I wasn't _always_ this nice, you know." He said, Shinji finding the mere concept of Vegeta being _worse_ than he already was somewhat terrifying to say the least.

The Saiyan turned his back to the child and headed for the door, stopping briefly at the threshold and said, without looking back, "I'm going now, good luck in your mating quest, and remember; have many children with your two women, your offspring will make you proud when you send them off into space to conquer other worlds for you." Vegeta commented, releasing a painful groan from the Third Child as the headed out, all in all feeling quite pleased with himself.

After sitting in silence for a moment to get his hormones under control, and also realising his relaxing Sunday at home was a vain hope shattered, Shinji decided to turn his attention to the device on the table and the CD next to it.

"Okay, Mr Scouter, you've officially piqued my curiosity," He said, picking both items up and heading off to his room to grab his laptop so he could view the instructions for his new toy.

-Z-

Sub-Commander Fuyutski stood at the end of the moving walkway as the all-too familiar form of Gendo Ikari approached. Needless to say, the commander's return was not something the ex-professor had been particularly looking forward to, said opinion not being helped by the fact that the commander appeared to be carrying a report on recent affairs which had obviously been wired to him en route back.

"Ikari, welcome back," said Fuyutski, nodding his head the darkly dressed commander stepped off the walkway and continued onwards, his second-in-command stepping into pace at his side "How was your trip?"

The commander made no outward sign of his feelings on the matter beyond a slight grunt, "Tedious; another waste of time being questioned by pathetic bureaucrats." He answered, handing the report over to Fuyutski in order keep his hands free when he walked as he preferred.

"I…guess you've read the report on the battle then," Fuyutski offered, reluctantly breaching the subject.

"The outcome was satisfactory." Replied the commander simply, "The Angel was destroyed, that is all that matters. I hear Katsuragi has already handled any extraneous outcries from the incident. All may proceed as planned," he explained, missing the slightly relieved expression on his second's face.

Both walked silently toward the commander's office in neutral silence, as usual any personnel in their path swerved to avoid them like they were on fire, saluting as appropriate.

Fuyutski was deep in thought as they entered the darkened office. He watched as Gendo stopped to a halt half way to his desk and looked left and right, surveying the now completed repairs to his office.

Smiling internally at having his little hideaway back in order, Gendo walked over and took his usual position behind the desk at the end of the room.

Kozo continued walking and took up a position in front of one of the windows on the back wall of the office behind the commander, looking out over the geo-front outside, his eyes narrowed in thought.

"What do you make of it, Fuyutski?" said Gendo from behind steepled hands, his voice breaking the silence.

Fuyutski had a suspicion as to what the Commander was referring to, but decided to confirm anyway, "I take it you're referring to the recent incident involving your son and Unit-01?" Gendo made no reply, which for him was basically a confirmation. The sub-commander exhaled a breath, "I don't know," he admitted, "I suppose only Unit-01 would know the answer to that."

"And perhaps the Third Child also?" offered Gendo.

Fuyutski pondered this for a second "Possibly, though I doubt it, Ikari. He's never been aware of Unit-01's independent actions thus far. It could have just been a freak accident."

Gendo knew that the older man didn't believe his own words, "_Indeed_… and what of Unit-01?"

"A full systems test was run later that day. No anomalies were detected in any circuits and it behaved as natural in the battle against the Angel later on, except…" Fuyutski paused as another bit of information came to mind.

"Except?" prompted Gendo with mild impatience.

"_Well_… All was the same, except that Shinji's sync ratio had jumped dramatically between both incidents, _far_ beyond our expectations. Although we haven't had a full harmonics test since the battle, the readings for during the battle with the Angel are quite conclusive."

Gendo fell into silence, assimilating the information. He came quickly to his decision, "Give the order for a full sync test to be held starting 5pm today."

"That's a bit short notice Ikari," responded Fuyutski

"That's irrelevant; _do it,_" said Gendo sternly; if there was one thing he hated more than being beaten up by unbelievably smug interdimensional aliens, it was being questioned.

"Yes, sir" Fuyutski replied, turning about and heading for the doors, only to be stopped as the commander's voice followed behind.

"And have the Third Child brought to my office immediately," he said, as if on an afterthought.

"What?" Fuyutski breathed, glancing back, the commander responding to his protest by silently glaring at him over his steepled fingers, and Fuyutski knew better than to speak out of turn again. Saying nothing more, he nodded his head in acceptance and headed out of the office.

-Z-

"Amazing…" said Shinji's in awe as he toyed with the interface and power level detection functions on his scouter, realising that it also doubled as a remote control for several devices that weren't even designed to be controlled in such a way. He realised what Vegeta meant about how this function could help him. And, deciding against turning on every electronic appliance in the building he could interface with just to see what happened, he decided to toy more with the detection functions.

He set the device to maximum sensitivity and quirked his head up towards the kitchen, clicking the button on the side once again. The display flickered to life on the small screen over his eye. A circle with an arrow pointing to it appeared on the screen and a display of numbers began flicking and calculating in the bottom corner.

'Let's see,' he pondered, 'I found one of the Saiyans with a surface power level of 1.2 million, I guess that's one of the kids, I _think_, So…' Shinji watched as the digits grew smaller and smaller until it blinked and flicked with its final figure.

"Pen-Pen's power level is… 5_.9?_" Shinji's frown turned into a scowl as the bird in question waddled past the sofa, "Hang on, why is your power level higher than mine?" he demanded.

Pen-Pen regarded him in almost ambiguous silence for a second, a suspicious glint in his dark eyes, "_Wark!"_ said the bird informatively, flapping his wings once before waddling off back to his freezer, leaving a somewhat bewildered Shinji behind.

"Something very odd about that bird…" he murmured.

Dismissing it, he shook his head and then grinned, clicking the scouter display off and returning the device to its ¾ of an inch capsule, which he then slid down the side of his sock for safe-keeping.

He returned his attention to his laptop, deciding to finish up on his required reading.

-Z-

_A little while later…_

"We're _home,_" Came Misato's chiming voice as she struggled to drag a bunch of miscellaneous shopping bags into the lounge behind her, Asuka closely following behind and being similarly encumbered.

Shinji sighed and slipped his laptop shut, turning his head around as his co-pilot and guardian staggered in, dropping their bags onto the floor.

"Have fun then?" Shinji asked, leaning back on the sofa with his hands behind his head as the two exhausted and sweating females dropped down into the armchairs.

"Of course," said Asuka, pausing to catch her breath, "what, hah, kinda stupid question is that, Third Child?" Asuka panted as she mopped her brow, missing the bemused expression on Shinji's face.

A sweating Misato spoke up next, "Yeah Shin-Chan, you really, hah, should've come with us…"

Shinji laid back into his chair even more and raised an eyebrow, "And become the personal baggage carrier for two hyperactive and overly lazy women? I already do pretty much _everything_ here as it is; I cook your meals, I clean and iron your clothes, I make your lunches, I save your _lives_ every other Thursday, but under **NO** circumstances will I be brought down to the level of pack mule! You want that kind of service, get a boyfriend or get married." Dictated Shinji in his seat, glad he kindly turned down the offer to go shopping with the two women, having sensed the ulterior motive quite easily.

"Come on, Shinji!" Misato said, returning from the kitchen and having finally pulled herself round thanks to the Senzu bean-like effects a can of Yebisu had on her, "Surely you don't think I would make you do something like that."

Shinji raised his eyebrow and shot a half disbelieving glance at his guardian.

"Well perhaps I _should_ just marry you, Shinji dear, then you'd be _all_ mine." Teased Misato, slinking down onto the arm of Shinji's chair, running a fingertip across his shoulder.

Asuka couldn't help but grin as she shifted up next to the Third Child, "Ooh, not if I take him from you first, Misato" She said, smirking as she trailed a circling finger over his chest.

Shinji made an attempt to sink deeper into his chair as the mental images he had banished earlier returned with a vengeance.

Misato smirked as she slid down on the opposite side of the pilot, pushing herself right up against him "You wouldn't let her do a thing like that would you, Shinji?" she pouted.

Asuka pushed the initiative further as she pressed herself up against his opposite side and traced a finger over the his neck, causing the already blushing and rigid pilot to shudder, "I don't think he could resist even if he tried." she said, breathing down his neckline.

"Well then, Asuka, " Misato began, speaking as if Shinji was neither there nor blushing so hard it looked like his head might explode, before continuing, "I guess that just means we'll just have to _share_ him, won't we?" she said, her smirk matching Asuka's.

"Sounds good to me, Misato…" replied Asuka in that same tone.

Shinji's hands balled into fists in his lap, 'If he hadn't said anything earlier then I might have had the strength to endure… _damn you,_ Vegeta!' cursed Shinji mentally as the two women combined their teasing powers on him.

He felt his mind begin to stall, 'Right, stay calm… just remember; I mustn't run away… mustn't run away –Actually… that sounds like a pretty good plan in this circumstance; initiate running.'

"Okay, _done_." Said Shinji quickly, bolting out of the chair, grabbing his laptop and retreating quickly to his room. "You're _SICK!_" he shouted, once the door was safely closed between them.

It took about one millisecond after Shinji's door slammed shut behind him for the two women on the couch to burst into a fit of uncontrolled laughter.

Misato wiped a tear off her eye, "Hah, serves him right!" She gasped out between laughs.' He thought he had me beat?' she thought, smirking with self-satisfaction, 'All it took was a bit of backup and Mama's right back on top.'

"Yup," said Asuka, leaning back into Shinji's chair, "It just takes that _special_ touch from a lady and any man can be put right back in his place."

-Z-

Shinji did his best to ignore the obvious chuckling coming from the living room, which he barely managed to do without impacting his cranium off any nearby blunt objects, even with it becoming obvious that he now had two teasing-obsessed females to not only work with, but also to live with and go to school with on top of it.

'God, where is my sanctuary now?' pleaded Shinji to himself mentally, realising that he now had nowhere to turn when his mind was in need of peace and reassurance… Or _did_ he?

That was the part that was confusing the hell out of him; was the trust he had put in that one person to be his spiritual confidant as badly misplaced as he feared?

'Are you there for me?' he thought to himself, imagining that person's face, 'Or are you precisely what one would think of you from merely knowing _what_ you are?' Shinji's mind worked furiously as he sat down with his hands behind his head.

"Damn it**,**" he moaned, slumping forwards and bashing his head off his desk, "Why can't I tell the depths of just _one_ person's feelings for me… or If there's really any there at all.' He thought, his head starting to hurt, though he considered that to be less due to his dilemma and more to do with the red welt forming on his forehead.

**Thump! Thump! Thump**!

Shinji raised his head slightly from the desk and opened an eye, glancing left and right curiously, 'well _that_ wasn't me', he contemplated, realising the loud thudding had come unmistakeably from the direction of the front door.

Shinji curiously pushed himself up, sliding open his door and taking a half step into the hallway, just as a frustrated Second Child came storming into the hallway.

"God damned salesmen!" Shouted the girl, "Why do they always have to pound the door around here, haven't they heard of the _doorbell_? You know the only reason they don't use it is because of the intercom, else who would even bother answering if they _knew_ it was them?" Asuka ranted loudly in frustration as she stood near the door, her fists clenched at her side.

**Thump! Thump! Thump**!

"BUZZ OFF!" shouted Asuka at the door. After six hours of shopping she was quite fed up with people trying to sell her things she didn't want.

A gruff and deep voice came through the door, "This is NERV sec-"

"I don't care if you're the god damn _Pope_! I'm not opening this door until you ring the god damned _doorbell!_"

There was a long, _long_ pause.

_ding-dong_

Asuka smiled sweetly and reached for the door control, sliding it open, "Right! That's better, now just what the he_eep_-" Shinji frowned as he heard Asuka's breath catch in her throat, and glanced out of the door to see a trio of ridiculously imposing men clad in matching black suits and sunglasses, all of whom were clearly neither salesmen, nor, obviously, were they amused by the situation.

Asuka laughed uncomfortably, backing up several steps as the men's reflective glare followed her back, "Heh…umm," abruptly, the girl spun about and bolted for her room, "Misato, it's for you!"

Shinji, from his position leaning against his doorpost, had his eyes narrowed at the sight of the three agents, 'Father must've _just_ gotten back… Man, he doesn't waste any time, does he?'

Misato entered the hallway yawning, with her red flight jacket slung over her shoulder, rubbing her eyes as she prepared for her shift, "What's all the ruckus out here?"

"I swear, if those parking guys have towed me _again_ I'll stick my foot right up their-" Misato stopped mid-sentence as her eyes met the occupants standing outside her doorway.

Shinji noted the subtle yet somehow complete shift in his guardian's demeanour; the slight narrowing of the eyebrows, the slight lowering of the head and raising of the shoulders.

She'd just switched to Captain Katsuragi mode.

The change was notable in her tone of voice also, "Is there something I can help you with, gentlemen?" She enquired, "Unless it's urgent and you're here to make a report," she paused, adding mentally, 'and I have pretty damn good hunch you're not' "then just forward it to my terminal and I'll check It out when I get to headquarters in an hour or so."

To be truthful, Misato had a distinctly bad feeling about this, her bad feelings often becoming noticeable to her when she realises she's subconsciously tensing her jacket over where she often keeps he service pistol secured.

To Misato's surprise, the reply came from her right, having not noticed Shinji's presence before, "I assume you're here for me?" He said calmly, having already slipped his shoes on.

Misato looked dumbfounded at her charge who, as far as she could tell, seemed to be ignoring her and had all his attention focused directly on the three guests. Her bewilderment was amplified several magnitudes when the lead agent, a stout Eurasian man standing at over two metres tall, nodded briefly and spoke in a level tone, "Commander Ikari wishes to see you."

"I'll bet he would," murmured Shinji, walking out past Misato without another word.

"_Excuse me_!" Misato interrupted, causing Shinji to stop adjacent to her, meeting her eyes with a sidelong glance, "But do you mind telling me just what the hell is going on?"

Shinji's mouth opened "I-" then his eyes fell, having been about to say 'I'll explain it all later' but then realised the predicament he was in, and the fact that telling his purple haired guardian anything could put her in serious danger if she acted on any of the information he could provide. He changed his reply, "I'm sure he just wants a chat or something," he offered lightly, in a stark contrast to the way he had been speaking just a second earlier. Misato regarded him in silence, waiting for him to elaborate, and so he simply shrugged his shoulders, "I'll see you later on then, shall I?" he offered with a smile.

"S-sure," She said unsurely, smiling weakly in return and nodding slowly. At this, Shinji turned and headed out of the door and into the company of the trio of waiting agents just outside.

-Z-

Shinji's expression melted back into its former serious one the instant the door slid closed behind him, "Shall we…" He offered, glancing at the lead agent.

The blonde man inclined his head curtly and beckoned Shinji to follow, the other two agents forming up behind him, obviously to block any attempt at retreat and always staying within arm's reach, just in case the cooperative Third Child suddenly chose to be _less _cooperative.

It was a shame one hadn't been keeping an eye on the pilot from the side, else they might have noticed the child keeping focused on something out the corner of his eye until they reached the two elevators at the end of the floor, one being taken by two agents, the other by Shinji and the leader.

-Z-

"Do you believe what he said?" asked Asuka as she approached the Captain, who was still standing in the same position as before, her strained smile long since faded.

Misato made no response other than to pass a barely readable expression to the pilot.

"Didn't think so… It w_as_ a pretty lame excuse, wasn't it," said Asuka, smiling weakly in an attempt to cheer up their worried guardian.

Misato's expression suddenly cleared, "Asuka, I'm leaving early today. I'll see you later on," said the Captain quickly, slipping her shoes on and heading out of the apartment, determined to at least _attempt_ to ensure her charge's safety.

Asuka's eyes followed Misato until she was out of sight, a thousand confusing thoughts running through her mind, "And there she goes…" she mumbled, shaking her head as the door closed shut, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

Just the way she hated it…

-Z-

Shinji sat in the back of the black NERV Sedan, an agent either side of him as it started off towards headquarters. At that point he had allowed his eye to drift covertly to the side and up to the spot he was watching before.

There on top of a nearby building, standing sentinel over him, was Goku.

Shinji watched as the figure nodded his head once directly at him and, again as covertly as he could, Shinji slowly nodded his head back in acknowledgement of his presence.

Goku stood, focusing his mind on the ki signals in the car moving away from him. Individually their life signals would be almost impossible to track or determine from a distance but, considering the size of some of the agents and the fact they were all grouped together in one spot, Goku just barely managed to establish a lock he could follow satisfactorily.

His brow furrowed into a frown as he heard another engine roar to life in the street below.

The Saiyan turned about, eyes tracing back down to the road again. He spotted a familiar blue Renault Alpine move into pursuit of the vehicle ahead, "And just what are _you_ up to?" mumbled Goku, "Just heading into the office? Or could you be doing precisely the same thing I am?" he found himself asking and, with a grin, the Saiyan gook off into the air to follow after the Third Child…

-Z-

Twenty minutes later, Shinji was walking through the halls of NERV still accompanied by his three-man escort.

Shinji realised that, for some reason, it seemed as if not one thought had passed through his mind since he left the apartment. He realised that he seemed to have put himself into autopilot, as if needing all his willpower to gather the strength he needed for what was to come.

His mind was forced to reinstate itself as the doors to his father's office came into sight before him.

All at once Shinji suddenly realised that he had never actually been here before, 'I wonder what it's like,' He mulled silently, 'It's father _so: _I'm guessing unnecessarily large and imposing; pointlessly dark; with little to no décor.' Shinji glanced back, seeing that the agents had halted at the reception area, obviously just to make sure he went inside before they departed.

Taking a steadying breath, Shinji turned to the double doors in front of him. He regarded the handles for a second as a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth 'okay, for a good start; make a dramatic entrance,' he thought, lowering his hands and flinging the doors open with unnecessary speed…

-Z-

Gendo stifled a gasp, his eyes flinching up as the doors to his office flew open, banging loudly off the walls either side an instant later. Light poured in from the corridor outside, the unmistakable silhouette of his son standing at the threshold.

Shinji stood for a second, arms still outstretched, before folding them behind his back and stepping slowly into the office, the doors closing behind him.

The pilot got less than half-way across the room before coming to a halt, his trainers squeaking off the smooth floor as he stopped. He slowly began arching his head about, looking all about.

He nodded ponderingly, eyebrows raised, 'Yup, called it…'

He cocked his head, as if reconsidering, '_although…_ I suppose it is stylish…if you're a minimalist vampire.' He continued walking, stopping again, still having not even looked at his father, who was glaring at him with slipping patience. He paused again as he reached the Kabbalah tree etched into the floor, frowning as his foot brushed over the Malkhut sephirot experimentally, 'interesting decoration…'

"hmm…" hummed the pilot out loud, glancing around again.

Commander Ikari however was getting quickly irritated. Not only was his son showing the opposite reaction to how people usually acted when they first entered his office, acting almost grudgingly impressed by the whole outfit as opposed to sheepish and intimated, but he had also so far not paid him the slightest bit of attention.

He wasn't used to that.

"Pilot…" said Gendo to the inattentive teenager, who now seemed more interested in the ceiling than the supreme commander.

"Hmm, yes?" mumbled Shinji, briefly glancing down before returning his gaze to the diagram on the ceiling. He wasn't intentionally ignoring the commander, and in fact had sort of become almost morbidly impressed by the layout. 'No wonder this place terrifies people, all he needs is a monocle and a fluffy white cat to sit on his lap' Shinji contemplated, fighting the urge to smirk.

"_Pilot…" _repeated Gendo warningly.

Shinji nodded at the ceiling, "Who painted this? It's very good. But seriously, where did you find a guy to come all the way down here and-"

"Shinji!" Gendo barked, unwillingly using his son's name for the first time in many years.

"Yes?" asked Shinji, "Sorry, were you saying something?"

Shinji wasn't sure, but he could've sworn he heard his father's knuckles crack together.

"Well?" Gendo asked, deciding to probe what assumptions his son may make with as little information given as possible.

Shinji quirked an eyebrow, "Well _what_?"

"What do you have to say?" He elaborated.

Shinji was taken aback even more; his father wasn't exactly making much sense.

There was a period of silence.

"Nice…office?"

Gendo could be seen taking a long, calming breath, "I'm _glad_ you approve, Third Child," said the commander, trying not to be baited by whatever it was his son was attempting. He was at least secretly reassured that his son had assumed the traditional place for someone standing before him in his office: three metres away, back straight and rigid, "However, I did not bring you here to admire the décor."

Shinji decided against standing on the knife edge in this conversation by toying with his father – something which he had to admit was giving him a funny buzzing feeling in the pit of his stomach –and despite knowing he was in no particular danger, he decided to stop beating about the bush, and address the issue head on, "You're talking about what happened with Unit-01, aren't you?" Shinji said, back in his usual tone, averting his eyes to the side.

"Indeed. The incident _is_ somewhat unprecedented," replied the elder Ikari.

"But I thought Commander Fuyutski saw the whole thing."

"That's true," admitted the commander, "but he was not directly involved, Shinji… _You were _however_._"

"So what would you like me to say then?" Shinji enquired, knowing that he couldn't reveal he knew anything more about his EVA than he should do. Playing possum was the only way; the last thing he wanted was his father or Seele changing their strategies so early in the game. So long as he played at being _their_ pawn, playing by _their_ rules, then there would be no need for them to alter their plans and therefore both he and the Saiyans could predict their moves with laser-like accuracy and hence manipulate the board in any way they saw fit.

Let it never be said there's not a downside to allowing a millennia old document to dictate your strategy.

Shinji had decided: he would do as he was told…for now.

"I want you to describe in detail the events that led up to the EVA's reactivation."

Shinji's eyes narrowed in thought as he contemplated the best way to answer his father's enquiry without raising suspicions, though from the outside it just appeared he was straining to remember, "I'm not too sure _what_ happened. I just reached out and touched the EVA and… I don't know… It just _did it,_" said Shinji, his confusion only partly an act; to be fair whatever was the actual trigger for causing Unit-01 to go berserk wasn't clear to him. Though if he did know that, he admitted to himself, things would be far much simpler.

Gendo contemplated this and decided to change his method of questioning, "You were in headquarters?" he began, and continued after a confirming nod from Shinji, "for quite a while_ after_ your test was scheduled to end, _why?_"

"No reason," said Shinji, shrugging his shoulders, "I was kind of… lost in thought. I suppose I was just wandering."

Gendo realised that this did indeed seem in line with what the security monitors had picked up of the pilots movements. All except for _one_ thing: "I see… And _yet_ you seemed at one point to alter your direction and go directly to the cage containing Unit-01. That is somewhat of a coincidence for mere _wandering_ in my opinion."

Shinji chose to answer truthfully…for the most part, "Curiosity: There's so much I don't know about EVA, and yet I have to pilot the damn thing out there to try and save to world. And I don't know _why_ I thought going to the cages would change that but, I don't know, I just…_did." _Explained Shinji, the picture still of ignorance and innocence, "And after I got there, what happened just… _happened_."

Gendo decided to accept this as a reasonable answer also, and decided that his son had little to offer on the mystery "Very well then, you are dismissed, pilot," instructed Gendo coldly as his mind began to work on what the whole situation could mean.

Shinji nodded "Good day, father."

"Likewise…" Gendo mumbled as if on an afterthought as his son walked out of the office, "Wait…" he said abruptly, Shinji's trainer squeaking as he pulled himself to an abrupt halt.

"What is it?" asked Shinji, half turning about.

Gendo peered at his son over his hands, "My reports state that you visited the Saiyans, correct?"

Shinji hesitated for a second, "It's true. I already explained what happened to Misato."

"Indeed, I have read Captain Katsuragi's report. According to this, they only wished to offer you advice in terms of strategy."

Shinji inclined his head, "Yes, strategy was the main point of conversation," said Shinji, realising it was actually a truth.

"I see…is there anything you would like to add? Was there anything mentioned or discussed that you feel NERV should know?"

Shinji narrowed his eyes at his father just a tad, "No…I feel there's nothing else you need to know."

His father was silent for a few seconds; it was a most uncomfortable silence for Shinji, "I dislike how you phrased that, Pilot."

"I meant nothing by it, father. I merely meant that there wasn't anything else you would feel is relevant. I don't think there's anything they told me that you don't already know yourself." He said, again it was a technical truth.

It wasn't his fault that his father wasn't asking the correct questions.

Again, the commander was quiet, as if wondering if the Third Child would offer anything else voluntarily, "You are aware that if you are hiding something from me, or are considering any treasonous activities, I will find out the truth."

Shinji's glanced out his peripheral vision at the figure in orange floating in the shadows outside, out of his father's line of sight. He smiled innocently and inclined his head to his father, "Of course, sir. I would never lie to you. After all, what could I possibly do to you? I'm just one of your pilots, nothing more, _right?_"

Gendo found his son's words appeasing, but for some reason he found his tone to be bordering on a threat. He pushed the suspicion aside for now; such a thing was well outside his son's capacity based on the psychological reports done on him recently after his arrival in Tokyo-3. He realised he had to return his mind to the more important issue of Unit-01 and its recent unpredictable behaviour.

"Very well, but you may consider yourself forbidden from approaching the Saiyans without NERV's prior authorisation, is that understood?"

Shinji bowed his head, "Yes, sir. I will make not approach the Saiyans camp without permission in future." He said, realising he hadn't been forbidden from _calling_ them, nor had he forbidden them from approaching him.

"Very good," said Gendo, "You may leave now."

"Of course, father," replied Shinji, who raised his head back up, turned, and left his father alone, the elder Ikari's thoughts returning immediately to Unit-01.

Gendo sat in the dark, contemplating over and over the details of the incident in the cage, 'What is it you're thinking… _Yui_?' he thought, his outer posture not betraying the turmoil going on within…

-Z-

Shinji stepped out into the area outside his father's office, just glad to see the light again. He was also surprised to find a very apprehensive looking Misato sitting in one of the reception chairs.

"Hey…" said Shinji softly, as if not to startle the lavender haired woman, who still jumped up as if someone had struck her with a Taser.

"Shinji!" she exclaimed with alarm, "Are you-"

Shinji's eyes fell to the floor as he interrupted quietly, "You always worry so much for me…"

Misato's worried face melted into a relieved smile as she slowly reached down and brushed a hand down over the pilot's cheek, raising his chin up with a finger to meet her eyes, "Hey, _someone_ has to…" She grinned, turning to head off, "Come on, this place is depressing enough as it is without getting all soppy on his highness' doorstep."

Shinji couldn't help but laugh as he followed on after his guardian away from the commander's office.

"You want to tell me what that was all about, then?" She asked, pointing a thumb back at the double doors.

Shinji shrugged, "Nothing much. He just wanted to ask me a few questions about that incident with Unit-01 just before the seventh Angel's attack."

Misato's brow furrowed in confusion, "What incident?"

"What, I thought Ritsuko would've told you about it," Shinji said, tilting his head about to regard his guardian as they walked.

Misato let out a disgruntled snort, "What, Ritsuko actually _telling_ me something _without_ me having to grill her, are you mad?"

Shinji smiled slightly, "I guess I am. But, it's nothing big really; Unit-01 just had a little hiccup while it was in the cage. I just happened to be standing in front of it at the time."

Misato frowned, "A _hiccup_?"

"Well, not _literally;_ its eyes just kind of _glowed_ for a second before going dead again. It was probably nothing, but I guess my father wanted the details anyway."

"I guess," said Misato, folding her arms as they walked, "but why didn't you even mention it afterwards?"

Shinji shrugged "Like I said: I didn't think much of it, plus I thought that you would've been told anyways."

Misato breathed a sigh, "Okay then. Well do you want to grab a bite to eat before I rush off onto duty?" she offered, just realising she hadn't ate before coming into headquarters after Shinji.

"You go; I may as well head back now. It's getting kind of dark out."

"There's no point in doing that," said Misato.

"Huh?"

"Oh, didn't you hear? You've got a sync test in about an hour."

Shinji frowned, "Since when?"

"About twenty minutes ago. The commander ordered it specially. I've already had an earful from Asuka over the phone about it."

"My father?" Shinji murmured, glancing back the way they had come.

"Yup, I suppose it's because we haven't had an _actual_ sync test since before the attack of the seventh Angel. I suppose he just wants an update on how things stand, and you know how impatient your dad can be: anything not already done before he's asked is usually too late."

"Yeah…" muttered Shinji, a faraway look in his eyes, "I'm sure that's the reason…I think my father really doesn't know where things stand just now."

"You hungry then?" Asked Misato brightly, bringing back Shinji's attention.

Shinji blinked, "Wha-? Oh yeah, sure, let's go." He said, doing his best to smile as Misato dragged him off in search of food.

-Z-

Out in the Geo-front, Goku got a similar inkling to Misato and, deciding Shinji was in no immediate danger, concentrated his energy and disappeared…

-Z-

"I'm guessing Asuka's going to be doing some complaining when she gets in," commented Shinji as he finished his last sushi roll.

Misato smirked, twirling her chopsticks between her fingers, "What, you thought she would be over the moon to spend several hours of her time off in perpetual silence floating about in orange goo?"

Shinji cocked an eyebrow up, "What, and you think I am?"

"N-no, "stammered Misato, "It's just…" at that she fumbled off, not particularly wanting to describe how she simply found him to be far more obedient and easier to work with than his German counterpart.

"It's okay, Misato," said Shinji, setting his chopsticks down in front of him, "Either way, I think It's going to be an interesting evening," his eyes seemed to lose focus for a while, "whether I like it or not…"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Misato through her last mouthful of octopus, bewildered by some of the ambiguous statements her charge had been coming out with as of late.

Shinji's eyes blinked as he brought himself back to focus "W-what? Oh nothing, just wishful thinking and all. Nothing more boring than these harmonics tests," said Shinji, dismissively shrugging his shoulders.

Misato smiled weakly in return, "Yeah, I can't say I envy you," replied Misato agreeably, regarding her charge from over her can of beer thoughtfully, 'What is it you're _hiding_ from me, Shinji? Don't you trust me even now?' she contemplated almost sadly as she watched the pilot finish his drink.

-Z-

About an hour later Rei was in the changing rooms, preparing for the upcoming test.

She clicked the control on her plug suit, pressurising it up as her normally fluidic thought processes continued to fluctuate around a matter which had begun to really disturb her.

She sat, staring forward as her mind ran over the fears that had been jammed there for some time now.

She had seen neither head nor tail of Shinji Ikari for over a week now. In fact he had been almost non-existent since their conversation on the day Goten and Trunks had fought over Tokyo-3. It was for this reason that the albino girl was most disturbed; somehow Shinji had managed to evade her presence ever since that day.

She had decided not to visit his residence during his training for the upcoming battle with the seventh Angel, having not wanted to disturb his coordination training simply for her own peace of mind, and yet afterward it was as if he were intentionally keeping one step ahead of her in order avoid being in her presence. That disturbed her, _greatly._ Shinji simply could _not_ abhor her, recent and semi-recent events had proved that to her.

She wasn't sure yet: She didn't know what the pain was that stabbed at her every time she imagined the way Shinji might look at her; she didn't understand that longing to simply sit by him again and hear his voice as he confided in her; she couldn't comprehend the borderline desperation to see his smile or feel his touch once more, nor the strange and disagreeable feeling about never being able to experience that again.

_No_, she wasn't sure, but she _would_ find out…today.

-Z-

Shinji laid back in the seat of the entry plug as he awaited the tests to begin, savouring the silence and the coolness of the ultra-thin breathable liquid in his lungs.

'Right,' he contemplated to himself, 'here we go. Let's just see what happens…'

Ritsuko's voice sounded over the comm. system, bringing Shinji back to reality, "Right, we're almost set to begin. You all should know the drill by now," a trio of affirmatives responded to her as the linkups between the test plugs and their respective EVA's began.

Shinji relaxed further, opening his mind as synchronisation with the EVA began.

This time however, he was going to do it differently. Before, he had merely allowed his mind to be linked with the fighting machine and let his sync level be what it may as the EVA embraced his mind. Today, he decided, he was going to do things differently. He intended to take what he had begun to do slowly over the past few times he had synchronised with Unit-01 to a new level.

It was that strange sensation that enveloped his mind like a warm blanket that he was focusing on, the one that surrounded him with an eerie yet wonderfully familiar feeling of calm and closeness. Before, he had merely viewed it as a pleasant side-effect of the linkup, yet it had always prayed on his sub consciousness; caressing it kindly. Knowing what he knew now, he strongly suspected that he knew what that feeling was or, more to the point, _who_ it was.

The Third Child sank back as his mind was linked up, his consciousness connected to something much more than himself.

He felt that familiar warmth surrounded him, a small contented smile gracing his features. Unlike before, this time he allowed his mind to call out to it. He felt the embrace deepen as he allowed his mind to draw itself into the warmth around him. As he pulled himself in further, he felt like he was sinking deeper and deeper into a bottomless well of contentedness until it enveloped every last corner of his mind and gleefully held him softly within it, touching his every pain in the back of his mind and smoothly caressing it. He felt the warmth spread out from around his mind and down his body, like he was being cradled from behind in the tender embrace of another.

He let a smile spread out across his face as he felt love gently surge through him; innocent, unconditional, and limitless love, a love that was content to do nothing more than hold him, and simply be there.

He exhaled a slow breath, 'Ahh… _there you are_…'

-Z-

And so, the tests went on for hours on end they usually did until the data from the testing systems finally began to flow in.

Maya pulled up the details on screen as she had a dozen times before, but it took her mind a moment to accept what her eyes were showing her, "Umm, Sempai? You might want take a look at this…" she said, her eyes wide as they regarded the screen. Ritsuko looked up from her clipboard and leaned over to looks, Misato wheeling over on her chair a second later.

Ritsuko supressed a gasp as her eyes passed over the syncograph readouts, or to be more precise, the readouts that had come from Unit-01, "That's impossible…" she breathed, "Maya, lower the graph depth another five points," She said, keeping her eyes transfixed on the data as her subordinate entered the command.

Shinji felt the imposed contamination as it tried to pull him free of his embrace, but he wasn't in the mood for NERV's games, and neither did it seem was the EVA. Shinji felt it as Unit-01 forcefully shut out any impositions on its pilots mind and brought him back to the safety of its tender embrace…

Ritsuko gasped as the ratio dropped for a few seconds before the graph seemed to readjust itself to compensate, forcing the synchronisation level back up to where it was before "Did it just…_adapt?" _asked Misato, who was now staring with almost as much disbelief as the other two. She might not be the most scientifically minded person around, but she knew how to read off a synchronisation graph.

"This is incredible," breathed Maya as her eyes stared at the sync ratio indicator below the graphs.

'Commander Ikari has to know about this,' thought Ritsuko with a slight frown before turning her eyes to the screen showing the three pilots, focusing on the face of the Third Child, and the small contented smile that graced his lips, "He's amazing…" said the scientist with awe.

'He looks… _happy'_ thought Misato with a start, 'He's _happy_ to be with the EVA?' her charge had never been happy, not really, with his duties as the Third Child, and here he was looking for all the world like he wouldn't want to be anywhere else, "What's the status on Rei and Asuka?" she asked, turning to Maya.

"The graph adjustment has put them both on the edge on the contamination zone."

"And Shinji?" she asked

"Not even _close. _And his plug depth is as low as the system can put it short of cutting the link circuits entirely," explained the young lieutenant.

'Have they figured out one another?' theorised Ritsuko silently before saying out loud, "Anyway, this aside, I think this is all the data we're going to get today." She commented, trying to keep her voice as nonchalant as possible.

Misato leaned over to the microphone, "Shinji?" She watched as Shinji remained still, not opening his eyes. "Shinji?" she repeated slightly louder, a note of sudden concern in his voice.

"I hear you…" He said, his reply barely over a whisper, as if he were bordering on the edge of sleep.

"Um, are you feeling alright?" She enquired unsurely.

Shinji's eyes opened as he met his guardian's curious stare, his smile widening a bit, seeming almost amused at the question as he cocked his head, "I'm feeling great, why? Is there a problem?" he asked curiously. He'd be shocked if she replied that there was an issue, as he _felt_ good.

No, that was a lie, he felt great_, insanely_ so…

"N-no, there's no problem at all, Shinji," said Misato hastily, her eyes flicking between the pilot and the readout screen, "it's just, your sync ratio…"

Shinji cocked his head, wondering if his change in method had caused his sync ratio to plummet, "W-what, has it gone down a few points or something?"

"No, that's not it… Misato said, contemplating the best way to continue, before taking a deep breath and deciding to just come out with it, "Shinji, your synchronisation ratio is at ninety-four percent."

Shinji half choked on the LCL in shock, "it's _what__?"_ he gasped, noticing he had lost concentration. He found himself resisting the urge to laugh for mentally apologising to his EVA for pulling away from her before refocusing.

Ritsuko's voice came over as she nudged Misato to one side, her voice serious, "Shinji, we need to know, have you been doing anything odd recently that could have caused this kind of change?"

"Are you implying I'm on _drugs_ or something?" he asked, feigning insult.

"N-no," she corrected quickly, "nothing like that at all. We just need to know what could affect a sync ratio like this."

Shinji wasn't sure if he should laugh or scold himself for doing what he had, as it kind of revealed that he had more of an insight into the true workings of EVA than he should do. And so he contemplated his response for a second, "Beats the _hell_ out of me," he said, shrugging his shoulders in a convincingly confused tone.

'Yup,' he thought to himself, 'that's the way; when in doubt, lie, lie, lie.'

If all were paying more attention to the communication indicators, they would have noticed that, for nearly all of the conversation, the feed from the First Child's plug was kept constantly open from within. Neither did they notice the momentary look of shock on Rei's pale features at the revelation of the Third Child's synch ratio.

Ritsuko sighed for a moment, "Well either way it's very good work, Shinji. Anyway, that'll be all for today. "She opened the comm link to the other pilots, "Good work everyone. We're finished for today."

"And?" came Asuka's curious voice.

"And what?" replied Ritsuko.

"What's my test score then?"

Ritsuko sighed again "Just as well as ever, Asuka. Well done."

"Hmph, no news is good news, I guess." Asuka said, shrugging as she climbed up and out of her plug once the hatch had fully opened, the other pilots following suit, one of which was intently looking forward, as if to dissuade anyone from trying to converse with him for a few hours at least. The other had her crimson eyes locked on the Third Child as she realised this would be her best chance.

-Z-

After a nice long LCL-cleansing shower and a change of clothing, Shinji walked down through the seemingly endless maze of steel corridors with his eyes narrowed in thought, something he found he had come to do a lot recently.

_'Ninety-four_?' he found himself thinking, 'And I felt like I was relaxing not focusing. I thought it would've been lower if anything.' A smile tugged at his lips, 'I guess even EVAs like to cuddle…'

He turned a corner and walked forward a few paces, screeching suddenly to a halt, realising he had subconsciously wandered into the EVA cages.

Walking onward, Shinji passed by Unit-01. He paused to give it a subtle side-glance, 'did _you_ do this?' he contemplated curiously, wondering if it could've somehow planted the subconscious idea to come here during synchronisation.

He sighed at the thought, 'Well if so, I _really_ don't see the point. After all, you're not exactly in the position to give any motherly advi-'Shinji's mind screeched to a loud and untimely halt as his world froze around him, a soft and familiar female voice sounding from directly behind him…

"Shinji…" called Rei softly yet unsurely to the Third child.

Shinji turned around slowly, as if it were taking all his effort just to do so. And, as suspected, found the pilot of Evangelion Unit-00 standing not two metres away from him.

Rei could have been slapped right across the face by the third child and it wouldn't have struck her more momentary pain than the look in the boy's eyes as they met her. The soft, curious and always caring eyes he would regard her with were now gone. In their place was an unsure look of fear that pierced her very heart, 'I think…he knows.'

Nothing was said for literally a minute as Shinji's mind waged war again. That imperfection in his ego that he had been battling to isolate and perfect, and thought he was done with, forced it's way abruptly back onto the edge of his consciousness.

Battle had recommenced…

"You know _what _she is," said Shadow, now concealed in darkness once more in Shinji's mind's eye, his voice laced with venom.

"Rei," fumbled Shinji, finding himself fracturing back into Light and his own observations between the two once more, "Is Rei…" he completed, more than a little unsurely.

"For one," the voice half snarled, "She belongs to _him._"

'No, I won't believe that,' Shinji replied surely, quickly syncing back into the 'Light' part of himself once more.

"Don't you get it?" demanded Shadow with disgust, "That's why he made her like that: She is the embodiment of your rejection by your own father."

"No!" snapped Shinji, "_That_ I refuse to believe!"

"Then what do you believe?" asked Shadow almost tauntingly.

'I don't _know, _damn it!' He screamed back into his mind.

"Then I suggest we go…" said Shadow as levelly and coldly as a disembodied figment of one's imagination could.

"W-what?"

"A temporary withdrawal if you will," said Shadow in sickly smooth voice, "Do you prefer it when I call it that? I doubt you'll be coming to any real revelations while in _its_ presence."

T-temporary, yes," stammered Shinji, his will beginning to waver, "I need to… _think_…"

"_Yes…_" breathed Shadow, "Just to think."

Shinji slowly found himself pulling away from the girl's stare and beginning to turn round, "I… I've got to… go."

Rei found loneliness, abandonment and full blown emotional agony forced into realisation in that brief instant for her full viewing pleasure. As Shinji orientated away from her, she felt that, with each degree her turned, he tore a piece of her very self with him.

As he began to leave, she felt as if he were ripping her heart along with him with each inch he moved. And no, she _wasn't_ sure. She never knew what to do at times like these. There was only one thing she did know:

'I need you…'

She didn't know how to act, nor how to really think in such a situation, and so she did the only thing she possibly could do at that moment.

"Huh?" said Shinji in confusion, finding he had been forced to a halt or, more accurately, _pulled _to one, as he felt something gripping tightly onto the cuff of his short sleeved shirt.

Slowly again, he turned round to meet Rei once more, his eyes widening as he touched the pale hand on his shoulder.

'My god, she's… _Trembling._' he thought as he stared into her downturned and glistening crimson eyes. He watched as she said absolutely nothing, and simply held onto him as if for dear life.

He gasped softly as he suddenly realised what he was doing to the girl.

Time seemed to stand still as he found himself face to face with Shadow once more.

"I…can't leave her."

"Do you mind if I ask _why_?" he demanded sardonically.

Shinji glared at the form, "Oh I think you _know_ why."

"_Excuse me!_ She's an Angel half-breed _clone_ with freaking DNA from your _mom_!" said the voice incredulously.

Shinji suddenly found that the answer to this had been standing in the front of his mind all along, and it was such a simple one that he had overlooked it.

"I…don't care…" Shinji whispered through his whole consciousness as he stared into Rei's eyes and brushed her trembling hand, which was still attached to his shoulder.

"_Come again?" _demanded Shadow.

Shinji found himself towering over the shadow aspect of himself, deciding it was time to put him to bed once and for all, "You really don't get it do you?" he demanded more intensely than ever before

"Then why don't you _enlighten me,_" said Shadow defiantly.

Shinji plunged his hand into that mental darkness and took hold of it firmly in his grasp.

"Let me put in words you'll understand, then. And I'll be sure to keep this simple." He said, feeling the shadow aspect crack in his hand as an image of Rei brushing his cheek flashed by.

"_Rei-"_ he said, remembering her touching his hand, '-is still-' and then her smiling after the fight with the fifth Angel. And finally, the sight of the frail, frightened girl standing before him right now, "-_Rei!_'

Suddenly, images of the young albino girl flooded one after another through his mind, over and over, crushing each doubt raised simply by her origin, any disgust or abhorrence dissolved by what he _knew_ he truly felt. He fight Shadow break like glass in his hand, and suddenly the small dissolving form of his younger self was looking back up at him with tired exasperation.

"You have a very odd sense of priorities, has anyone ever said that?"

Shinji cocked his head, "They have now…"

"But I _am_ you," it retorted.

"Then no, so I'll just have go on _prioritising_ until someone _does_ say it then, wont I?"

The younger Shinji sighed, "We're _hopeless_…"

"At last we agree on something."

"You know, if It's all the same with you, I'm going to hang on around here a while longer, just in case this goes as tits up as I think it will…"

Shinji smiled, "Make yourself comfortable, you're going to be waiting a long time…"

-Z-

Shinji kept his eyes locked with the first child's as his face softened for her. His smile returned to how it had been before. He kept his eyes held with hers as allowed the hand resting atop hers to slide slowly up the length of her pale slender arm and onto her shoulder. He sighed and brought is other hand to rest on Rei's other shoulder. Rei's eyes met his questioningly, and she let out a startled gasp as Shinji slid his arms down behind her back and gently pulled the rigid girl into his embrace, and from there he simply held her…

Rei was tense in his arms, and after a pause Shinji felt her melt against him as she brought her head to rest gently on his shoulder. Shinji didn't give much of a start as Rei slid her other arm round his back and embraced him back with all she had, as if she feared he would evaporate into nothingness if she let him go. Rei closed her eyes and rested for a moment, feeling for the first time emotional relief. No, this was more than that…

This was bliss.

Shinji felt several warm tears splash down onto his arm as he realised what she was worried of. Gently, he slowly brought a hand up and caressed her smooth azure locks, as she spoke the first words since the start of the encounter.

"Why am I crying?" she whispered, her fingers digging in slightly as she rested her cheek against his shoulder.

"Probably for the same reason I did." He replied gently. He felt his grip tighten slightly, "I'm so, so sorry, Rei. I promise I'll never leave you again," he whispered down, resting his face against the top of her head as they held each other in silence, neither wanting to leave that place unless it was absolutely necessary, which both Rei and Shinji hoped, would be quite some time...

And from the viewpoint overlooking the cage, Commander Fuyutski stood with his hand hovering over the intercom button linked directly to the Supreme Commander's office.

After a moment, a small smile graced the old professor's features as he pulled his hand back and slid it into his pocket. After watching the two for a moment in silence, he turned and walked off, allowing the tormented teens to have their moment of joy. "I don't think Ikari needs to hear about this_…_"

_To be continued…_

-XA-

[A/N] And thusly we complete another instalment and yes, from here on out there is a romantic subplot, but for those who loathe such things in their tales, I'll try and keep things balanced. Well, as many of the older readers know, new characters will be entering the fray soon and new developments to come. Hope you'll stick with me and I'll catch you all next time.

See you all in Chapter 13: Heat of the Moment.


	13. Chapter 13: Heat of the Moment

[A/N] Greetings and salutations, loyal readers! I'm glad I'm getting this out faster than I'd hoped I would, but again I hope you bear with me if they occasionally take a few days or a week longer to finish, that'll normally be due to either a particularly heavily revised chapter, or one with quite a lot to add to it, but regardless, I'll do my best not to disappoint. I've switched this fic's category to the NGE/DBZ crossover setting, since I suppose it was originally made before the crossover section was introduced, but i figure it was time to put it in the right place. Right, as I recall the story picks up right where we left off. So let's recommence…

**Chapter 13: The Heat of the Moment **

That same evening, Shinji and Rei walked side by side, both glad beyond words to be comfortable in one another's presence once more.

They boarded the train back up to the surface and took seats alongside one another as the vehicle moved off. A strange yet comfortable silence descended over the carriage, with Shinji staring off out the window, quietly humming an upbeat rendition of Beethoven's 5th which had been stuck in his head for some time. He also didn't notice the third occupant sitting further back in the carriage, who was keeping happily to herself.

Shinji's eyes were drawn down between himself and Rei, 'the gap between us…has closed,' he remarked, noticing how far Rei was in his personal space, so much so he could feel her body heat across the gap between them. A smile spread across his face, 'I…like this feeling.'

Rei was busy at that time scouring her mind for _something_ to say. She had been on totally silent terms with Shinji for over a week, and since their little reunion he had still barely even said a word to her, but still he seemed content in the silence between them.

However Rei wished for a conversation. This was for two reasons: One; the subject she wished to discuss was concerning her, and two; she really wanted things to be just as they were, which was on a full and vocal level with the Third Child.

"You did not tell her," Rei said suddenly, still staring forward.

Shinji paused in mid-hum, "Hmm, wh-what? Told who what, Rei?" Shinji said, turning his head left to look at his companion, a somewhat confused expression on his face.

"Pilot Sohryu," said Rei simply.

Shinji frowned slightly, "Asuka? What about her?"

"You evaded her question about your own score when she asked you after the test."

"Well I did tell her that I'd improved a little bit when I was walking off to get changed, Rei," said Shinji, trying to keep his voice stable.

"But your synchronisation ratio has now far exceeded hers," said Rei as a counterargument, trying her best to understand.

Shinji's face froze, his brain stalling as he realised he had no excuse for this. As far as Asuka was concerned he was still several levels below her, at least as far as test scores were concerned, "ah, _so._.. You know about that, huh?" Shinji said, casting his eyes downward in thought, "B-but, that must have been a fluke, or _something_!" said Shinji, doing his best to sound convincing.

Rei merely returned Shinji a sidelong, and obviously unconvinced, look, "You have opened your mind to her…"

Shinji's eyes widened against his will, and suddenly found himself battling to control his body language, "W-what are you talking about, Rei?"

"You're synchronisation ratio was at 94 percent, Shinji," stated Rei simply, as if it were the bottom line.

Shinji attempted to form a counterargument, but no suitable words came. His head slumped forward with his hands dropping listlessly before him, defeated.

Rei cocked her head curiously, "It…concerns you?" she asked, "Should you not be happy to be able to pilot EVA with increased skill?"

"That's not the part that concerns me, Rei" Shinji said, his eyes rising back up to stare forwards, a frown on his features.

Rei looked at Shinji for a minute as she thought of how to continue, "Are you… _aware_ of one another?"

Shinji blinked and looked at Rei with a shocked expression for a fraction of a second, "Aware of who?" Shinji pushed, curious to see just how far Rei would go with this, obviously knowing his father had probably given her standing orders about what she could and could not talk about in public.

"Of EVA," replied Rei, "of its heart."

Shinji dwelled on this answer for a second. Rei had quite cleverly dodged revealing any actual knowledge by making her statement ambiguous, for if she had said 'your mother' then he knew he would be in a pretty tight spot with her, especially if she was going to report this conversation to the commander, but if she put it that way then, "Maybe. I think I was defiantly aware and linked with _something_…"

Rei considered this for a moment before speaking, "Was it… _pleasant?_"

"Pleasant?"

"To be close to another like that, to be…together?"

"I suppose," said Shinji, inclining his head, "being close and having any kind of companionship is nearly always a pleasant thing, Rei."

"I see. Then… you consider our companionship to be pleasant?" hypothesised Rei.

Shinji chuckled slightly at the remark "Of course. I find being with you very pleasant, Rei."

"..." Rei made no verbal response, but Shinji could tell she had fallen into deep self-contemplation over his words, so he left her to her thoughts as a comfortable silence descended.

Shinji yawned, standing up to stretch as the train entered the tunnel to the surface.

He leaned on the balls of his heels, resting back against the doors opposite Rei with his hands behind his head.

He would regret adopting this unbalanced posture in precisely two seconds time.

"Will you be my boyfriend?"

The cringe-worthy sound of bone striking glass echoed through the carriage as Shinji slipped backwards in shock, smacking his head off the double-glazed doors behind him, tumbling into a somewhat unceremonious heap on the floor a second later.

'Oh, God!' he cursed, 'W_hy me_?' He reached back to nurse his head as Rei pushed herself quickly to her feet in alarm and walked over, sliding her arms under his and assisting him back to his feet.

"Are you unharmed?" Rei asked as she helped the disorientated pilot to regain his balance.

Shinji tried to ignore the softness pressing into his chest as he stammered a response, "Y-yeah, sorry about that. It's just, for a second –and you'll never guess; it almost sounded like you said you wanted to be my girlfriend." He said, focusing his eyes.

Rei tilted her head slightly in confusion, still not releasing the pilot from her arms, "I did."

Shinji's jaw dropped so hard he was surprised that didn't go straight through the carriage floor, plummet all the way back down to the Geo-front, crash down a couple of extra miles and clonk Lilith one right on top of her big white head.

This was a slight exaggeration on his part of course.

"Will you?" Rei repeated, completely ignoring the fact that she still had Shinji held in her embrace; her research on the subject had led her to believe that increased physical proximity was a norm for this scenario.

Shinji stared down into her curious eyes as his mind worked itself into a frenzy.

What he _should_ have been saying was 'no, no, no, bad situation. Too complicated, fate of the world on the line, et cetera,' and yet, as she held him tightly in her arms, now wrapped over his shoulders and behind his neck, he couldn't even _think._ All Shinji could register was Rei, and for some reason he forgot the rest of the universe even existed, all that existed in that moment was her.

Shinji knew what common sense would dictate, and it was screaming at him to do the follow it. Unfortunately, his brain had already been hijacked by his heart, and it only had one answer to give her.

And so, after a moment's silence, the stunned pilot managed to come out with a nod and, with all the eloquence of a musician, a "Uh-huh…" to compliment it.

From her position holding him in her vice-like grip, the satisfied First child gave the boy a rare smile. Bringing her hand slowly around, she allowed two fingers to brush over his cheek, holding them there to marvel at the way the skin seemed to heat up so wonderfully under her touch. Warmed beyond reasonable thought at his acceptance of her, she moved forward and put into action what she had read was the next logical progression of their relationship.

Needless to say, the still shell-shocked Third Child had what was left of his will-power blasted into ashes like a newspaper in an N2 mine explosion in the seconds that followed. The albino girl gently pulled the slightly taller boy down closer. She allowed her eyes to lose focus and close of their own accord, again as she had seen was traditional in this scenario, and finally brought her soft pale lips up, pressing them gently over those of Shinji Ikari…

At that instant , alarm bells began blazing in Shinji's head, gears were screeching to a halt, engines were stalling and…well, basically his mind was going beyond blue screen of death and skipping straight on to a full CPU burnout.

All thoughts were blocked with the exception of pure sensation, the softness and warmth on his lips was like nothing he could've ever imagined. Shinji's ability to consciously marvel at the feeling was somewhat lost, being stuck in a mental loop of 'She's kissing me! She's kissing me! She's kissing me!'

Finally something clicked, as both his heart and mind overcame the shock and he realised, 'yes, she's kissing me…' slowly, he felt his arms come to bear on Rei, slowly sliding around her back and pulled her further into him, his mind giving into the brief taste of heaven and the blissful warmth in his arms.

'Incredible…' Rei thought as her fingertips gripped deeper into her companion's shoulders.

'…' Shinji's mind was more of a blank by this point, his will finally caving in completely as he allowed his feelings for the young albino girl to surface and take control. It was a loss of control that was almost a nirvana in itself.

Suddenly, the car came to a halt, followed by a loud bell and an accompanying voice informing this to be the end of the line.

With extreme reluctance, Rei pulled away from her lip dancing partner, leaning her forehead against his for support, barely managing to exhale that word which was spinning around in her head:

"Incredible…" she breathed, almost directly into Shinji's ear, said action not helping much to calm down the already entranced Third Child.

Rei quickly swiped up her school bag to leave the train, a noticeable rosy blush on her cheeks as she left for home, not before giving her farewell in the form of another kiss on the cheek.

Shinji could only respond with a raise of his right hand. It took severe concentration on his part to simply shake the limb in the semblance of a wave, as he watched his now girlfriend depart.

The Third Child stood, totally still, with his hand frozen in mid-air, waiting for his brain to try and figure out what had just transpired in the past few minutes. Unfortunately, it seemed that most of his higher brain functions had temporarily stroked out on him.

A loud clanking noise was the boy's snap back to reality. He turned his head around to the source of the noise.

Again he froze.

Maya had been sitting watching the scene with an open mouth for almost the entire journey. Overhearing Rei confess (or words to that effect) to the Third Child had caused her hand to go limp, spilling the contents of the diet coke can in her hand. By the time the train had reached the surface, the container had long since emptied its contents into a puddle around the lieutenant's feet, but she was still regarding the teens in disbelief.

_Maya's_ snap to reality came when the can finally worked itself free from between her thumb and forefinger, shattering the silence as it clanked off the rubber floor tiles.

Both boy and woman froze like a pair of deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

Unaware of how else to react, Shinji plastered a smile on his face, his mouth managing to come out with a pleasant, "Good evening, lieutenant. How are you on this fine evening?" all the while his mind was chanting '_shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!_'

He was starting to miss 'I mustn't run away'

Maya found herself responding in the same stupidly cheery voice, "I'm fine, Shinji. Thank you for asking." Her mind was basically stuck on a somewhat ungracious '_wha-_?'

Silence descended.

Shinji glanced upwards to the left as he spoke "Can…I ask you a question?"

"Uh huh?" Maya replied, her disbelief starting to take over, nodding once.

"Umm, are you any good with suppressing memories and stuff?"

"I don't know, why?"

"Because, If _possible,_ I'd like you to completely erase _everything_ you just saw in the last ten or fifteen minutes from your mind."

Sidestepping off the train in perfect sync together as to not break eye contact, and also not to be taken along on the train's return journey, Maya managed to nod once or twice, as she regained her communicative skills. She found herself shifting from foot to foot, blushing slightly as the shock finally wore off and she accepted what had happened, "I suppose I could do that," she said, "It…what happened that is…it was very…_sweet,_" stammered the lieutenant, smiling slightly.

Shinji blinked in surprise, "Sweet?" he echoed numbly, "Aren't you NERV though, shouldn't you be telling my Dad, and filling in reports about this or something."

Maya frowned, "I am a girl first, you know…that is… a _woman_, so I'm not totally insensitive just because I work for NERV. And so if you and Rei will find happiness, then I guess I really don't have the right to try and ruin that and…umm… you know... I'll just shut up now."

Shinji managed to smile as the obviously shy woman tried to voice her feelings, "Thank you, ma'am. That means a lot to me." And so, deciding to spare her any further blushes, Shinji quickly turned about and ran off for home, "Have a good evening!" he called back once before disappearing round a corner.

"Yeah…" replied the woman to the now empty street. She then turned and followed Shinji's initiative by heading for home. 'Find happiness…' she thought to herself as she began walking, 'Who knows; if those two can find it, perhaps maybe the right person will come along for me one day too…'

-Z-

At about this time; in the cosy confines of the office of the Supreme Commander…

"Well?" The overly shadowy man demanded as Dr Akagi entered. In her arms was a folder containing all the pertinent data from the day's tests.

"I think you might want to take a look at these yourself," She said, slipping some stapled sheets of graph paper free and setting them down in front of the commander.

Gendo's eyes traced over the graphical data relating to the test type EVA, his eyes narrowing, never once allowing his shock over the information to be seen on his face or posture. He finally lifted his eyes to Dr Akagi and issued an order; one he had already issued once that very same day…

-Z-

Fifteen minutes later, at the Katsuragi/Ikari/Sohryu residence…

Shinji wandered into the apartment, exhausted by the day's extremes. He wandered into the kitchen mindlessly and swiped a drink from the fridge before turning for his room.

Asuka glanced up from the couch as the Third Child walked straight past her, "Hey, Shinji!" She called, waiting for him to stop and turn his head to look at her, "so where've _you_ been? I got back like half an hour ago. I even had to cook dinner for myself. Are you intentionally avoiding your chores, or do you just want me to starve?" Asuka demanded, frustrated for having been left alone so long and for being dragged off to NERV in the middle of her free time.

Shinji mumbled something along the lines of an apology, waved it off and then continued on to his room, leaving a stunned Asuka in his wake.

Shinji closed his door behind him and walked over to his bed, sitting tiredly down on the edge. He popped his drink and swiftly downed it in one go; hoping it would help him cool of and, more importantly, calm down. Once he felt his blood pressure drop a few points, he let his mind run over the day's events.

'Okay, okay, okay, Shinji… time to take stock,' he thought to himself, leaning back with his hands behind his head, 'In _one_ day you've: received a piece of super advanced alien technology; got dragged off to your father's office, which as it turned out looked like something that was a cross between a work area and something from Dungeons and Dragons; you gained a sync ratio of 94 percent and…' he felt his mind suddenly go, 'did I forget anything? Oh_, yes_: You reconciled with Rei, made her your girlfriend and reached first base with her all in the space of an hour.' Shinji sighed loudly, rolling over on his bed as he let that sink in again, 'By god I accepted; I made Rei my girlfriend,' that fact cycled back once more through his mind, 'Rei…is my girlfriend,' and, despite himself, he felt the widest and stupidest grin he had ever experienced spread over his face, 'and I _kissed her_.' He added to himself, feeling his heart race in his chest, he covered his mouth to stop the laughter from coming out.

Abruptly, Shinji's elation sank into calm euphoria as the last of his energy departed him, "Ahh," He sighed contently as he rolled onto his back, feeling his eyes go heavy and close, 'and now to get some long deserved slee-'

**Thump! Thump! Thump**!

Shinji's eyes opened again. He regarded the ceiling blankly for a moment. He felt his brow crease into a deep frown, "No, surely not…"

With a groan, he pulled himself up, not bothering to check who was at the door before slipping his shoes on; he had a strong suspicion he was going out again.

He leaned tiredly against the doorframe, slumping forwards as his hand went up and flicked the door control. It slid open to reveal three pairs of legs in black pants and perfectly polished black shoes.

Shinji pulled his gaze up to look into the faces of three familiar agents. Rolling his eyes almost completely back into his head, Shinji groaned in frustration and barely managed to resist the urge to facepalm himself.

"I hope you're getting overtime for this," said Shinji with exasperation.

"Commander Ikari-" began the lead agent.

"-wishes to speak to me, I gathered!" Shinji finished, rolling his eyes once more as he stormed out of the apartment in frustration, the lead agent parting just in time as the Third child made an attempt to walk through him. He stopped a few paces ahead before turning his head back to the agents, "Well _come on_, then!" he snapped, the agents looking a little taken aback, hastily moved to catch up as Shinji marched on ahead of them, muttering curses about lazy, good-for-nothing fathers as he went.

Shinji paused at the elevator and glanced back at the agents, suddenly noticing a blue-clad figure standing on the rooftop across the street, 'So, Vegeta came this time…' he pondered, 'they're quick off the mark, I'll hand them that.'

-Z-

And so, after another car journey to headquarters, (of which Shinji chose to primarily sleep through) followed by another march through the inviting halls of NERV central later, Shinji once again reached the area outside his father's office. Again the agents waited as Shinji approached to doors before turning round to leave again.

"Umm, sorry about the whole, yknow, snapping at you earlier. I know you're just doing your job." Said the pilot, the agents replying with a curt nod and the beginnings of a smile as Shinji turned back about to face the doors to his father's office.

Shinji should've known better, but he couldn't resist doing it again; taking a deep breath and raising both hands to the handles, he thrust them forwards again, flinging them open once more with unnecessary force…

-Z-

Both Ritsuko and Fuyutski nearly had simultaneous heart attacks, the former going so far as to drop her pen in surprise as the doors to the office were flung open.

Gendo's eyes narrowed in slight irritation as his son strode decisively across the office toward them. Dr Akagi moved swiftly out the way, even Fuyutski side stepped back a bit further as Shinji strode quickly up to his father's desk…and stopped.

"Don't you have a _phone?_" asked Shinji, frowning curiously, folding his arms.

Gendo ignored the question, his eyes briefly training on the indentations the door handles had made in his newly painted walls, "Do that again, _pilot,_ and I will have you incarcerated for a week," scolded the commander sternly.

"Yuh huh…" yawned Shinji, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Do you know why you've been brought here?" the commander asked, deciding to be open-ended in his questioning once more.

Shinji's eyebrow perked up, "Because ordering me here uses less energy than picking up the phone sitting three inches away from your right hand?"

The silent glower that Shinji got in response indicated this was not the correct answer.

Sighing, the pilot said, "Let me guess; my… Sync score?" He offered, part of his mind suddenly hoping this _was_ why he was dragged in so late. If it had to do with that _other_ recent development, namely the one that happened on the train back to the surface, then he would truly be nervous. It did however occur to him that it probably wouldn't take both commanders _and_ Dr Akagi to scold him for locking lips with a co-worker.

"Correct," replied the commander simply, his brow furrowing as his son breathed a noticeable sigh of relief.

"Don't feel pressured or anything, Shinji," began Ritsuko in a friendly tone, "we just want to try and get to the bottom of this."

"Don't feel pressured?" He echoed somewhat disbelievingly. 'What's to feel pressured about?' he thought to himself, 'All that's happened is three men in black showed up at my house at night and dragged me before the three highest ranking members of NERV for an inquisition.' His eyes flicked sideways for a second, just briefly spying the figure now hovering silently in the darkness outside.

Shinji smiled, "It's okay, Doctor Akagi. I'm fine I assure you. Please begin."

Ritsuko nodded with a smile, "Thank you, Shinji. I'm glad you understand. First; I would like you to describe your thought process during synchronisation, just as far as you can." asked Ritsuko, bending down to reclaim her pen from the floor.

"My what?" Asked Shinji, who then decided to put back up his usual front in order to escape the situation; he felt nothing appeased people at NERV more than acting meek, obedient and ignorant…

He could pull that off very efficiently.

"I don't know. I just… _did it._ I don't remember thinking about anything special in particular," he explained, then decided to switch tracks, "I don't see why I keep getting asked all these questions about stuff you've never even _told_ me about; I just do my job as you've always told me to. What more do you want?" he demanded, sounding increasingly confused and pressured as he spoke.

Ritsuko decided to drop it, as did commander Fuyutski, realising it to be highly doubtful that the Third Child could add anything their own readings and instruments hadn't already. Gendo Ikari, on the other hand, chose to push further.

"You must have done something different than normal in order to cause this kind of reaction; w_hat_?"

"_Nothing!_" snapped Shinji back, "A_lright,_ I'll _admit;_ it felt a little different during the sync experiment, but that was it," he exclaimed, allowing as much frustration to gather in his voice as possible.

"Explain the difference," enquired Gendo simply.

Now Shinji's frustration was genuine; his father was almost as stubborn as he was, "I don't _know_! It felt… warmer, or something; more peaceful. It's hard to describe to someone who can't sync with an EVA."

Gendo decided to accept this line of thought, so instead tried changing angles, "Very well, but did it seem as if Unit-01 _itself_ were causing the change."

Shinji gave a dumbfounded look, "How should I know? I mean it could have been, because I wasn't doing anything different from normal. Everything I was doing just seemed…_ n__atural._"

The commander was quiet for a moment. Shinji could sense slight irritation and that his father hadn't gleamed nearly as much information as he'd hoped he would, "Indeed. Very well, pilot. You're dismiss-"Gendo didn't bother to finish, as Shinji had already turned about and stormed out of the office.

Ritsuko raised her eyebrows in thought "Well, that was…_odd_."

"I can't say I blame him for his frustration; being dragged back and forth to headquarters twice in one day, sync tests and all," said Fuyutski, folding his arms.

Gendo however, remained strangely silent as possible suspicions began to shoot through his head. There was something in his son's attitude that he couldn't quite put his finger on. The commander was also weary of the vagueness of the answers given, and for good reason; he used the exact same strategy himself when dealing with the council. He resisted the urge to shake his head as common sense annihilated immediately the idea that his son could possibly be plotting with such subtlety, and therefore assumed that the oddities _must_ have been created by Unit-01.

Shinji had no idea just how much of an ally he had in hubris.

-Z-

The Third Child kept his annoyed frown plastered in place right up until the doors of the service lift to the surface closed behind him, at which point he permitted himself to breathe out a relieved sigh. He slumped back against the wall. Leaning back to regard the ceiling, he blew out a tired breath, "Well," he lamented, a small smile tugging at his lips, "that went well…"

-Z-

Asuka was sitting watching her favourite pre-impact comedy series as Shinji walked in the door looking noticeably drained. She drained her glass of milk and rolled over in her chair as the Third Child entered and flopped face-down onto the sofa with a tired groan.

"So," She asked, folding her legs under her, "How did it go?"

Shinji responded with an unintelligible groan into the cushions before tilting his head left to regard her, "Hey, Asuka…"

"Hmm?"

"If they come back, please tell them I died of a sudden brain haemorrhage or something. That way I can at least rest in peace... "And so, with the last of his energy, Shinji pushed himself up and retreated to his room, passing out almost just as soon as his head hit the pillow, having decided that if any aspects of his sub-conscious decided to turn up and interrupt his dream, he was just going to scream incoherently at them until they went away; he had had enough personal revelations for one day in his humble opinion…

-Z-

Several days later, in the volcanic crater of Mount Asama…

From Vegeta's vantage point above the magma, his scouter could easily pick up the depth signal from the Angel's chrysalis, deep down in the lava below.

The Saiyan's constant automated monitoring of all NERV's communication frequencies and order transmissions had allowed Goku and himself to not only keep an extra bit of an eye on Shinji for his protection, but it also gave them a very good one-step-ahead advantage on NERV.

This venture of NERV's in particular had _really_ piqued his interest. In fact he'd arrived long before Misato and the rest of NERV's science team had.

'It's stirring,' mulled Vegeta, sensing the very weak, but still noticeable ki signature, 'This must be the next one…'

Deciding there was no reason to forestall things, the Saiyan raised his hand slowly up and aimed it down at the lava, readying to gather the necessary ki to vaporise the slumbering Angel.

"Out admiring the view?" came a sudden voice from behind Vegeta. The prince dropped his hand to his side and tilted his head about to the source of the noise. Standing further up towards the rim of the volcano, with her arms folded, was Misato.

Vegeta let out a disinterested grunt and returned his attention to where it was before, "It _is_ a lovely day, Captain," he replied, using the same sarcastic tone the Captain had.

Misato took a step down into the crater, hissed in pain and quickly backed up to the rim again.

Vegeta smirked, "Problem, Captain Katsuragi?"

Misato shook her foot, "I think I'm going to stand up here, where my feet won't get baked by the superheated rocks."

"It's not exactly pleasant for me either," grumbled the prince, though he was more referring to the sulphur in the air, since his natural power rendered him immune to the heat. The heat-resistant boots helped too.

"So why _are_ you here?" Asked Misato

Vegeta's scouter continued its depth monitoring, also displaying the movement and power level of the dormant Angel. He flashed his smirk at her, "Let's just say that, in a way, I've already beaten you to this one," said the Saiyan, noticing the Angel stop moving for a moment in the current. "_Perfect…"_

Misato blinked, "Wh-what do you mean?"

As if to answer, Vegeta took a step forward and extended his palm back at the lava, "Now unless you want to find yourself swimming home through a sea of lava, then I would suggest you vacate the area immediately."

Misato extended a hand towards the Saiyan, "Don't! Please stop!"

Vegeta scowled at the woman, a ball of ki pulsing in his hand, "Why should I?"

"Because…" she faltered, realising she was about to divulge classified information, but realised that the Saiyan would simply attack if she didn't say something, "Because we need this one."

The Saiyan's brow furrowed, "_need_?"

Misato exhaled, "_Yes_. This is our first opportunity to acquire a living Angel as a specimen. We know so _little_ about our enemy and this may be our only chance to study one up close."

Vegeta turned about, "Okay, let's look at both sides of the argument: You need; I need it _dead_," he looked off to the side, pretending to think about it, "Nope, I win."

"Please, just listen! If we can just capture it then-"

Vegeta scowled, cutting the Captain off, "-and then what? What do you suppose to do with it when it hatches, hmm? Put it in a cage and charge admission?" demanded the Saiyan.

Misato growled in frustration, "We don't _know_ yet".

"_Yes_," breathed the Saiyan, "Just as you didn't know fifteen years ago."

Misato flinched, "How do you know about that?" she asked, the shock evident in her voice.

The Saiyan didn't answer, leaving Misato frustrated to the point she was almost trembling. She realised that having an argument with Vegeta was like arguing with a parrot: he'll only take what you say, turn it back at you, and make you sound like a complete moron for even trying.

Vegeta noticed the woman's reactions and decided to give her some leniency.

He folded his arms and frowned, "_Fine,_ I'll assist you in capturing it alive." Misato was about to interrupt with an objection, but Vegeta cut her off before she could. "And if your _supreme commander_ has any objections to this arrangement, tell him he can take them up with me personally." Said Vegeta, guessing the commander wouldn't take up on that offer. "Considering the risks at stake in this situation, I would _rather_ there be no catastrophic failures. Your species holds a bad enough track record as it is with," he paused to beckon at the lava, "_this_ sort of thing."

Misato pulled her eyes away from the Saiyan prince. She knew her only option was to allow Vegeta to assist in the capture of the Angel or have him destroy it on the spot, "So, "she began, shifting the subject, "how did you know it would be here?"

Being far better at it than Shinji, Vegeta didn't even miss a breath between spinning the lie and actually saying it, "I sensed it. This place isn't that far from Tokyo-3 and our camp, so it wasn't too difficult," he said, having decided that to actually admit 'I hacked into your systems, intercepted your transmissions and flew out here ahead of you,' might cause the woman to talk his ear off to an annoying degree.

Misato nodded, "I see…"she said, and then asked the other question that had been bugging her, "_So…_ what's that thing over your eye for?"

"Just a monitoring device, similar to that probe you lowered down there earlier, only far more advanced," replied Vegeta simply, not moving his facial features an inch as he kept his eyes focused on the lava.

"Oh," said Misato, "Can I have a go?"

"No," replied the Prince, still not moving.

Misato looked dejected for a second "_Oh_, okay. Well, I have a plan to capture the Angel already. It has been approved, you know. So I suppose you can just stay here and watch, just in case something _does_ happen."

"I'll think about it." said Vegeta, "And don't forget what I said, Katsuragi: I don't want any screw ups, so weather or not _I_ handle this situation with _your_ assistance is something I've yet to fully decide."

"I will not fail," said Misato, the sternness in her voice giving Vegeta momentary pause, "This Angel _will_ be captured."

Vegeta turned about to regard the lavender-haired officer, who in turn took a step back under the Saiyan's scrutiny, "W-what, what is it?"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her, realising something, "What is your connection to the Angels?"

The captain flinched, and Vegeta knew he'd hit the right nerve, "_What?_" she breathed.

"You put up a cool front," said Vegeta, slowly starting to pace in front of the woman as he looked at her, "Yet there is something farmore to this for you than just _protecting the world _from an enemy_, _oh yes, _much__ more._"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said the captain, turning away to hide the snarl that was showing on her face; she hated it enough when Ritsuko analysed her, but this man did with a disturbing intuitiveness that truly infuriated her.

Vegeta smirked darkly, "Oh, don't you? I've seen that look a thousand times before, on the faces of a hundred enemies…most of whom are dead now. So tell me: what's the _real_ reason you're fighting?"

Misato said nothing, but Vegeta could see her teeth grinding in her mouth and her right hand clenched into a trembling white fist at her side.

"_Ahhh_," breathed Vegeta with understanding, knowing that unmistakable pose. He walked up and out of the crater until he was standing sidelong with the Captain, who was still looking dead ahead.

The Saiyan glanced at her out the corner of his eye and said, in a barely audible voice, "…_Vengeance._" He watched as the Captain flinched and took a sharp intake of breath.

Misato, with visible restraint, held her posture as the Saiyan continued walking, leaving her alone by the crater edge.

"What do _you _know?" said Misato shakily as she trembled on the spot, both hands balled into fists at her sides as she stared downwards. Vegeta halted, "What could you _possibly_ know!" She snapped glaring right at the Saiyan's back with contained fury.

"More than you could possibly imagine…" replied the Saiyan distantly. He unwillingly called up several of his own unpleasant memories, a scowl tugging at his face.

Misato marched up to the Saiyan warrior, grasped him by the shoulders and flung him back around to face her, a vicious snarl gracing her features as she brought him face to face with her, "Don't you even _think _to comprehend me! You know _nothing_ about me, Vegeta!" She roared, directly into his face.

Vegeta fought to keep himself under control as the insults came, broaching a subject he didn't even particularly like to _think_ about.

"I lost my_ father_, my _mother_, half my damned _species _to these things! I have been to hell and back, Vegeta! So tell me how you could _possibly_ know what I've gone through!"

Vegeta's face melted into an open snarl, which was often the last thing an enemy would see before he took their life, but she seemed heedless of the danger.

"My Species, "murmured Vegeta, "My father, _my _mother…'" he said slowly, feeling his emotions slipping from control.

"_**What?**_" Misato snapped, infuriated that this man would even presume to understand her situation.

Vegeta's eyes suddenly snapped up to meet hers as he grabbed the woman by the shoulders to make sure she was paying full attention, "are _dead_**!**" He roared in her face, shocking her into silence as he continued, "You have two _billion_ peopleleft in your race! There are _two_ Saiyans left now! Do you understand me? _T__wo!_ Oh, you think you have it _so bad._ My entire _planet_ was reduced to ashes by a tyrant for no other reason than that someday we _might_ have become a threat to him! What an end for a noble warrior race! And to my added humiliation; those who were left were forced into servitude for that _same_ tyrant! _Me, _a royal prince forced into bondage my entire life. At least up until recently when I realised I _do_ have a reason to live beyond my original heritage!

You speak of Hell? Well I've done horrible things in my life, Katsuragi, more evil than you could possibly comprehend, and I went to hell because of it, _twice,_ before my slate was clean! It is you who know nothing, you snivelling little child!" Vegeta roared back, releasing the woman he had a grip of, causing her to stagger backwards.

She was silent in shock for a moment, "B-But what about your kids? Aren't they Saiyans" She asked, stuttering slightly.

"Half-Saiyans, half Humans" He muttered, "And there it is, Captain. At least I have managed to reset my destiny and choose a course I am now true to, regaining the true pride that was once lost.

_You_ on the other hand, dwell on that past; you live in it. You allow it to dictate and _own_ your destiny, not moving on, dishonouring the sacrifices made for you. That is your weakness, Misato Katsuragi…" finished the prince, staring at her out the corner of his eye, the Captain realising her argument had somehow been flipped completely on its head, but still the Captain's words rang through in Vegeta's head, calling up memories of his past, enraging him...

Misato's breathing became laboured, and was about to say something, but suddenly the visibly infuriated warrior spun about and ran off, exploding into the sky in a blaze of blue a second later.

Misato stood rooted to the spot, doing her best to jam down those feelings under the surface, but it was a wafer thin covering; Vegeta couldn't have stirred up her neuroses more if he'd done it as a song and dance number. She plastered a professional frown on her face as she walked toward her car, her breathing haggard and laboured.

She needed to call it an early day…

-Z-

Vegeta landed on an empty plane half-way back, the ground cracking and as he neglected to slow his descent. He paced back and forth a few times, teeth glaring. He paused dead as words began echoing through his head; words that caused old self-doubts he had once though eliminated to simmer:

Mediocre

Weak

Fallen

_Subdued_

His anger boiled over into a raging storm as he arched his back and roared out his frustration to the heavens, his power level rocketing up along with it. His body erupted into a blaze of brilliant gold as he tore straight through his Super Saiyan transformation and straight into the realms of an Ascended Super Saiyan. Lighting crackled around him as he released his fury as pure energy. His muscles bulged with power as the earth around him trembled and was thrust into mid-air before being vaporised by his aura.

The Saiyan prince kept his call going until he was forced to breathe for air, still full of rage. He wasn't sure where to go from that point.

That was until a small voice from his side spoke up…

"Hey, Dad. Are… you okay?" asked Trunks in a small voice. The boy was in his super Saiyan form, having sensed his father's sudden upsurge in power and flown off quickly to see what was wrong.

"Huh?" Vegeta suddenly gasped slightly, noticing his son beside him. Vegeta's eyes widened as he stared at him: his offspring, the Super Saiyan.

It was in that instant that Vegeta remembered there was nothing at all 'mediocre' about his life. He had everything he could possibly want and would have dreamt off as a child: He was beyond the powers of even a Super Saiyan; he constantly had the challenge a warrior needed; he had a powerful son who had made him proud; and mostly, and _strangest_ of all, he realised… He was loved. And for some reason, and for the first time in his life, he consciously realised this was just as important as his power.

What would his own father have thought if he knew his royal offspring would have such thoughts, wondered Vegeta ironically, but then that old man was dead, and Vegeta was a living, breathing, Super Saiyan, so obviously one of them was doing things right...

Vegeta's face softened for a second, "Of course, son. I was just… testing my power."

"One hell of a test…" said Trunks, looking at the area of pure devastation around them.

Vegeta smirked as he powered down to a first stage Super Saiyan. He then quickly slipped into a fighting stance, "But there's just one thing training alone cannot substitute for!"

Trunks couldn't help but smile, "I _guess_. I suppose you _have_ been getting a bit lazy these days, dad."

"_Lazy?_" growled Vegeta, Trunks laughing at his father's predictable reaction. Vegeta smirked as he shifted his centre of gravity, readying to attack, "We'll see who's _lazy_. Prepare yourself, boy!" he declared, launching himself forward, swelled with pride, and feeling more like a king than a prince…

-Z-

By the time she reached her apartment door, Misato's mind was so burdened and distracted that it was only the repeated pains in her chest that reminded her she still needed to breathe. The woman was stuck on autopilot as thoughts of her father and Vegeta's words rang through her head like a hot poker. In fact her mind was only capable of one conscious thought.

'I need a drink, _fast._'

-Z-

Shinji was alone in the apartment, relaxing on the couch as he heard his guardian enter.

Misato walked in and dropped her bag, heading straight for the kitchen.

Shinji arched his head about as the Captain drifted past, "Hey, Misato, you're home early…"

Misato's voice was listless and held barely any life as she responded without looking back, "Hey, Shinji. Asuka home yet?"

Shinji's brow creased into a curious frown. He could tell _something_ was amiss, "N-no, she said something about going shopping and then catching some new movie after. I guess she won't be back for a few hours."

"Oh…" Misato replied distantly as she entered the kitchen. Her legs were going weak at the knees as thoughts bashed and pounded at her consciousness with a horrible new way of interpreting them.

Shinji's eyes narrowed further as he regarded Misato, pushing himself out of his seat, 'She looks like she's straining just to hold herself in one piece…something's wrong.'

Misato drifted zombie-like to the fridge, sliding it open to grab some liquid solace in the form of her favourite beverage. Suddenly that last image of her father placing her into the safety of that escape pod hit home like a bullet through the brain, her fingers fumbled on the ring pull of the can as a hot tear fell and struck her shaking hand, which slipped free and clattered to the floor. In that instant, it all became too much for her to contain…

Shinji, who'd followed after the Captain out of concern over her behaviour, had barely a split-second to spare as he watched his guardian crumble and drop. He dashed across the room, sliding to his knees just in time to catch the lavender-haired woman in his arms and prevent her from striking her head on the edge of the table.

As the pilot brought her slowly to the floor she suddenly, to his understandable shock, proceeded to burst into tears against his chest as he held her limply in his arms.

Shinji had no idea what to do in a situation like this, though he felt he could atleast try to comfort her. Having never been in such a situation before, his mind worked on how to solve the conundrum of where to go from here, 'How am I supposed to do something if I don't know what she's cry-' Shinji's mind froze as he suddenly recalled what he had read in Misato's personnel file. It gave him a very intense suspicion as to why she was in this state.

And so Shinji Ikari did the only thing he possibly could do in that situation: Slowly and simply, he slid his arms down around her trembling form and brought her close to him, offering what little comfort he could. His hand carefully stroked down over her fine lavender hair, softly hushing her while she sobbed uncontrollably into his shirt.

"Sh, _shh_, don't cry…" hushed Shinji gently as he cradled his guardian, stumped as to what else to do, short of running off and hiding in his room of course.

"I'm weak…" She suddenly choked.

Shinji blinked, "Huh?"

Misato suddenly looked up through teary eyes at her charge as she gripped tightly onto him, "He was right; I'm weak and pathetic!"

Shinji crouched there gob-smacked, merely tightening the hug on her as she continued, "I always have been. It rules my destiny and makes me the weak woman I am! _Look at me;_ here I am, breaking down here when I'm supposed to be the strong one."

"You're wrong," Shinji whispered soothingly, resting his head down against hers. Misato continued as if she never heard him.

"M-my father, he..." She choked, trailing off.

Shinji hushed her again and continued stroking her, "Shh, it's okay. I know what happened… you don't have to say it."

"Then you know… His sacrifice, in the end, it meant _nothing!" _ she snapped, burying her face once more, "I never once let it go; not one of my actions hasn't been dictated by what happened that day, be it my work, my feelings," She paused to choke out the next part, "my love."

Shinji was finding it hard to hold back any of his own tears at the sight of his guardian as she broke down in front of him. What was more depressing, yet strangely empowering, was how much she reminded Shinji of himself.

And because of that, all Shinji knew he could do was let Misato get it out of her system. And so, he adjusted his position to sit more comfortably, allowing the captain to completely lay into him while she sobbed quietly into his chest.

There was a long period of silence, and Shinji wondered for a moment if she'd fallen asleep, "By god I'm pathetic, just look at me," She finally said after a while, seeming content not to move.

Shinji ran his hand over her back once more, "Not at all," he said, "Anyone can keep something pressed and buried beneath the surface. Anyone can keep running away from their feelings, but it takes someone of true strength to know when to finally let it all out…"

Misato choked a small laugh as she brushed the fabric of his shirt through her fingers, "by god that was corny."

Shinji chuckled, "Hey, give me a break. I'm new to this comforting the pains of crying women stuff. I suppose corny is as good as I can muster for now. "

Misato smiled as she pulled herself up a bit, still leaning into her charge's support though, "I guess you're a fast learner then."

Shinji smiled back as he met his guardian's eyes and slowly brought a hand up to brush away the remaining from her cheek. She gripped him a bit tighter and Shinji suddenly find himself blushing over the situation, "umm, if this were a romance novel, then I think this would be the cheesy clichéd part where we both do something spur of the moment and totally unrealistic. Either that or for some silly reason you choose to fall asleep in my arms. So let's keep it real for now. The only thing that's asleep is the lower half of my body, and I'd like the opportunity to wake it up."

Misato bowed her head and laughed again, "I guess we'd better get up then. Although I did find some of the cheesy comments really… sweet," She said, smiling as she dragged herself up.

"Cheesy, and sweet," Shinji echoed dryly to himself 'I seem to get that a lot from women these days…'

Sighing in exasperation, Shinji reached up and grabbed the worktop, pulling himself into a chair to allow the blood to start flowing back into his legs.

Misato sniffed as she brushed herself off, "Well, I'd better go clean myself up. I must look like crap."

Shinji smiled serenely, "Not so bad, but I think I'll go put on a dry shirt."

-Z-

On a desolate plane that looked like it had recently picked a fight with an N2 mine and lost, Trunks narrowly avoided a small ki blast from his father. The boy bounced off one hand, spinning into mid-air to face his opponent, releasing a counter blast straight at him.

Vegeta, to Trunks' increasing horror, flew straight up through it, allowing it to strike him head on as he charged his son for a finishing blow.

With a smirk, Vegeta slashed out at the air, catching Trunks' hip and knocking him back about thirty feet, skidding across the ground below. The prince could've finished it right there and then if he wanted.

'Not bad, son,' admitted Vegeta silently, landing back on the ground, 'but you forget: your old man knows all your moves…'

Trunks thought fast, choosing to switch to the old shock technique, hoping to catch his father off-guard. Still frozen in his recoiled position, hands at his side, Trunks smirked openly at his father, who paused, frowning at the reaction, "Hey, Dad!" he called, causing Vegeta to narrow his eyes, fists clenched at his side in readiness, "Stop me if you've heard this one before!"

'What's this?' thought Vegeta, recognised the familiar attack posture.

Trunks focused all of his energy up to maximum, realising he would only have one shot at this, "KA…" He groaned, his aura blazing up around him, "…ME…"

Vegeta's eyes widened, "No way…"

"…HA…" He shouted as the ball of energy fizzled to life in his hands, "…ME…" Suddenly he shunted his energy to his max and thrust his hands forward at his father, "…**HA!**"

'He wasn't kidding!' Vegeta gasped as the blue beam trained on him, smirking at his son's guts, 'fine, if he wants to play it that way. Though I've got to say,' he thought, raising his hands back over his shoulder, smirk widening, 'this takes me back!'

"Gallick Gun…FIRE!" The Saiyan prince threw his hands forward, releasing a gargantuan wave of purple energy right at Trunks.

Trunks gasped in horror as his father's attack struck his own head on. He suddenly found himself jolted downwards into the ground as a furious energy struggle began.

Vegeta was inwardly impressed at his son's ability to even hold his attack at bay. Yet, as strong as his son may have become, there would always come a time to show him just who was in charge…

Trunks was shocked as his father's attack suddenly dissipated and his own beam struck the ground on target, causing a gargantuan amount of earth and soil to be hurled upwards in the explosion. Trunks covered his face to shield from the blast, waiting for the smoke which concealed his father's half of the battlefield to clear.

Satisfied, the young Saiyan smiled and folded his arms, "Yup, who's the best?"

"I think we all know the answer to that question!" shouted Vegeta as he reappeared behind his son. The prince gave his son just enough time to realise there was no way to defend himself before landing a swift knee to Trunks' lower back, sending him smacking down into the earth and out of his Super Saiyan form.

Vegeta strode towards Trunks, powering down as he did so. He stopped, standing over his son who was now lying on his back, gasping for air.

The prince smiled down at his son, "Not bad, my son," he cocked his head, "Are you hurt?"

Trunks opened his eyes, _"Ouch…_"

Vegeta smiled, and turned to walk away, when Trunks spoke again.

"Are you okay now, Dad?"

Vegeta halted, looking back at his son in surprise. After a pause, he inclined his head in response, "Yes, Trunks. I'm alright now…"

-Z-

Misato had finished freshening herself up. She noted that she also felt a lot fresher on the inside than she had in a long time, far longer than she could even remember.

She headed for the door of her room when something suddenly struck her; it was something Shinji had said whilst he was comforting her, and it also reminded her of the suspicion that had come to mind whilst having had dinner with him in the NERV cafeteria several nights previously. Her eyes narrowed as she realised there was something that was just not right about the whole situation.

-Z-

Shinji adjusted his fresh shirt as he left his room, idly wondering if had shrunk in the wash, but that's the sacrifice he had to make unless he did the laundry every night as opposed to occasionally delegating it to Asuka or Misato.

He entered the kitchen, finding sitting at the table, a clearly pulled together and oddly silent Misato. She was sitting with her hands clasped together atop the beer can in front of her, idly twiddling the ringpull between her thumbs in thought.

"Hey, Misato, you feeling better now?" asked Shinji cheerfully as he reached into the fridge for a soda.

Misato replied absentmindedly, yet gratefully, "Yes, Shinji, thank you for asking." Her eyes narrowed even further, still regarding her can, "Shinji?"

"Hmm, yes?" mumbled the pilot from behind his beverage.

"How did you know about my father?" enquired Misato simply, yet curiously. Shinji noticed she still had her head tilted down slightly, but saw that she was now regarding him carefully out the corner of her eye, observing his reaction.

What came out was, "hmm, what did you say?" he asked, as if he hadn't heard (and not stalling to come up with a decent excuse), but what was inside was simply '_oh, shit!_' as he realised his mistake.

Misato stopped twiddling her thumbs and folded her fingers in front of her, "I said how did you know what happened to my father?" she asked, and wasn't fooled at all by his delaying tactic. She had seen it immediately for what it was.

Shinji chose to go down the indifferent and nonchalant route. If Misato had picked up on him knowing about her father, then he knew she was obviously too smart to fall for any convoluted excuse. He paused to gulp down some of his drink, "What? Oh, I don't really remember. I think I overheard someone talking about it, or read it in a report somewhere or _something. _I'm not too sure, why?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders and more than happy with how his improvisation came out.

Misato raised her eyebrows and hummed thoughtfully as Shinji turned to walk out, "Shinji, what are you hiding from me?" It was lucky Shinji had turned his back or she _would_ have noticed his eyes suddenly widen and jaw drop, but the squeak his trainers made on the kitchen told her volumes enough.

Shinji could feel Misato waiting patiently behind him for an answer, his mind working itself into a panicked frenzy 'Great, now I'm screwed. If I tell her, she might tell my father or Ritsuko, or even worse; do something that would probably get us _both_ killed, but if I don't say anything… Well, looks like its denial time again…'

Shinji was about to speak, when the phone on the wall suddenly rang, 'Oh, _yes_, God really does love me.'

He turned about, putting on a face that made it look like he was going to wave it off as a stupid question, before glancing at her apologetically and going to answer the call.

Unfortunately, the six or so second hesitation Shinji had exhibited after Misato had asked the question had been _more_ than enough to convince the Captain of her suspicions, or at least seriously pique them up to a near certainty.

Misato began watching as Shinji talked on the phone "Yes?" he asked, talking to whomever it was on the other line, "Yeah, sure. She's here. Her cell phone? Umm, I think the battery was dead or something. Umm, okay…" Shinji mumbled as he turned to Misato offering the handset, "Its Ritsuko."

Shinji watched as Misato went to work on her conversation with the good doctor, and took advantage of her momentary distraction to slip away…

-Z-

Meanwhile, in the depths of NERV headquarters…

Aoba was busy finishing some routine visual checks in the EVA cage on Units 00 through 02. Nodding satisfactorily, he moved to click his pen closed which to his mild irritation, slipped through his fingers and clattered to the floor behind him. Grumbling, he turned about to retrieve it, almost to jump out of his skin in surprise.

"Here you go," said the young dark-haired man who Aoba hadn't even heard approach and was now offering back his pen with a welcoming smile.

Aoba blew a lock of hair out of his face, accepting his pen back, "Thanks," he said, inclining his head, "You nearly gave me a heart attack there."

The lieutenant could've sworn he was alone in the cage. It was almost as if the other man had appeared out of thin air. And indeed, had Aoba Shigeru turned about just one second earlier, he would've seen the young man do just that.

Aoba regarded the younger man for a second. He was dressed in a standard Section 1 bridge technician's uniform and was now surveying his surroundings with avid curiosity. He seemed to be paying particular attention the dormant trio of EVAs.

Aoba shrugged and pocketed his pen before walking off towards the doorway, halting alongside the young man, who was now regarding Unit-01 with a frown. The long-haired lieutenant surveyed the younger man up and down, suddenly realising that he'd never actually seen the stranger before, and he was pretty sure that he was familiar with all the members of the bridge staff.

"Are you new here?" He asked, startling the younger man out of his revere.

The young tech blinked, turning about to look at his fellow officer, "Hm?" he asked before smiling slightly, "Yes, I just arrived." He said, grinning as if it were some kind of private joke.

"I see. So is this your first time seeing an EVA up close, then?"

The black haired tech nodded, turning back to look up at Unit-01, "Yeah, kind of spooky though, aren't they…"

Aoba laughed, "Yeah, that's one word I would use." He said, "So then, umm…" Aoba trailed off as he glanced at the stranger, looking for an ID badge so he could introduce himself correctly, only to notice both it and his rank insignia were missing.

The unknown man's dark eyes glanced to the side, just realising the situation was getting a bit suspicious. He suddenly glanced at his wrist, "Well, well, well, would you_ look_ at the time," he said quickly, totally ignoring the fact that his watch was on the other arm, "Umm… I've got to go report in to commander, ahh, what's-his-name and, umm, y'know, get my orders and stuff from Doctor… umm…blonde lady," The black-haired tech quickly then turned about and beat a swift retreat, leaving a somewhat dumbfounded Aoba in his wake.

Aoba stood there for a few moments, staring after the stranger, "_Co__mmander what's-his-name_?" he finally echoed disbelievingly. He scratched his brow, "Suspicious, or just plain odd?" he shook his head, sighing as he walked away, "I really can't tell the difference these days..."

-Z-

After slipping into the nearest elevator he could find and hitting the topmost button, the young man slumped back against the steel wall as the carriage began ascending to the surface.

He rolled his eyes, 'Great work, Gohan,' he chided himself, 'you've been here three minutes and already you've come this close to being figured out. It looks like I'm going to have two identities in this world too…' the teen sighed as he rummaged in his pockets, pulling out his rank and name badges which Bulma had prepared for him prior to departure. He felt more than a little foolish for neglecting to put them on before being sent here.

"Okay then, Second Lieutenant_ Moriyama Gohannesburg, _let's get to work…" said Gohan, smirking to himself as he affixed his insignia and ID badge. He double-checked to ensure his fake, yet fully working NERV access card was safe in his pocket also. "I just hope you got my details loaded into their systems like you said, Bulma, else this is going to be a very brief undercover mission," he mumbled, worriedly looking over the card in his hands. He was suppressing his ki, lest his father or brother sense his presence and accidentally blow his cover before he could explain the situation to them.

The black-haired demi-Saiyan flinched and froze rigid as the elevator dinged to a halt.

The doors slid open, revealing a noticeably frustrated Dr Akagi.

Gohan's eyes narrowed just enough to focus on the name badge attached to the blue zip up jacket that the woman was wearing beneath her white lab coat, 'Dr Ritsuko Akagi; that was her name,' he thought, berating himself internally, 'Damn, I should've remembered that. Mom was right; I _do_ brush off my homework too much.'

Ritsuko rubbed the bridge of her nose, groaning slightly before speaking, "That damn Katsuragi… she's come up with some insane ideas on short notice before , but _this_ takes the biscuit."

Gohan just nodded in sympathetic agreement, praying the look on his face didn't say 'I have absolutely _no_ idea what you're talking about.'

Ritsuko looked up at the other occupant of the elevator, "What's your opinion, Lieutenant…"she trailed off as recognition failed to kick in, glancing at his ID, "hmm, _Gohannesburg?_" she lulled over the name, ignoring the incorrect spelling of the South African city she assumed he was named after, "Transfer, is it?"

"Y-yes ma'am, from second branch in Germany, it's my first day." he replied.

"Moriyama," she intoned, reading his other name, "Half-Japanese, are you?" She enquired, folding her arms as the elevator continued its arduous journey upwards.

"That's right, ma'am. My father's an alien, " he hastily corrected himself, "In that he's…not from around here," he said, fighting to stop himself from breaking out in a cold sweat. He realised she was still looking at him, "Is there a…problem, ma'am?" he asked, feeling unnerved by her scrutiny.

She shook her head, "No, sorry. It's just you seem rather _young_ for someone in your position. I suppose it just struck me as a little odd."

"I was quite a good study when I was younger," he replied after a second, ironically realising it was one of the first truthful things he had said to her.

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow, Gohan finding himself unable to read her expression. Abruptly, she suddenly returned to her earlier subject, "So then, lieutenant, what _is_ your opinion?"

Gohan blinked, "On what?"

Ritsuko frowned, "Katsuragi's latest hair-brained scheme."

"_Captain Katsuragi_? I heard she was a brilliant officer when it came to planning strategy."

The doctor scoffed, "_Says you_. But just wait until you're the one who's got to clean up the mess once she's through."

"I see…" Gohan mused, "She's that bad, huh?"

Ritsuko hummed in confirmation as silence descended once again.

Gohan took this opportunity to recap several things in his head.

If Bulma had gotten it right, she had put him in place as a backup bridge officer on one of the quieter shifts, replacing one that had been recently killed during an Angel attack. All Bulma had had to do was intercept a couple of transfer orders and rewrite them, insert a few bits of personnel data during the times she was chatting with Vegeta and add the appropriate background information to systems around the world to corroborate his story at the same time.

All Gohan had to do was make sure he wasn't seen together with his father, brother, Vegeta _or_ Trunks. That way nobody at NERV would be able to make the connection. He also had to set himself up a homestead somewhere out of the way using the capsule case he currently had in his pocket, and from there all would be set.

At least he _hoped_ it would be that simple…

Gohan turned back to Ritsuko, "I hope it's not _too_ bad. After all, I'm assigned to the team being sent up to assist with the Angel's capture today," he said. The other thing Bulma had done was input a program that would ensure the MAGI would always assign him to active duty during an Angel attack, meaning he'd always be on hand during critical moments to observe and step in if needs be.

"Dealing with an Angel _and_ on duty with Misato all on your first day? And I thought my luck was bad today…" replied Ritsuko with an almost sympathetic smile as the elevator carried on upwards.

Needless to say, Gohan was most grateful when the elevator came to a halt, allowing the good doctor to depart and leave the Saiyan by himself.

-Z-

After the briefing by Misato and Dr Akagi, Shinji and Asuka had been shipped up to the launch areas by their respective EVAs. And, after a slight moaning session by Asuka over her plug suit and a resultant laugh at it by Vegeta, all was soon in place for the operation to begin.

Vegeta stood waiting on the command bridge next to Misato, watching as the EVAs took their final positions before beginning the operation.

Asuka's voice came over the intercom as she noticed the streaks in the sky, "Are those jets here to help us?"

Ritsuko's voice replied from her position below, "No, they're here to clean up the mess, just in case we fail…"

"What do you mean?" asked Shinji from Unit-01.

"In the even that we fail, they've been ordered to drop N2 depth charges straight down to destroy the angel, and us along with it," replied the doctor simply.

"What? That sucks!" Asuka snapped, looking nervously upwards and hoping none of the bomber pilots had itchy trigger fingers.

"What kind of jerk would order something like that?" demanded Shinji angrily.

"Commander Ikari," replied Ritsuko with a hint of gallows humour.

Vegeta scoffed, butting into the conversation, "They wouldn't _dare_…"

"Excuse me?" replied Ritsuko.

"You forget, Doctor. As far as I'm concerned, I'm _allowing_ this mission to be handled by you _only_ up to the point that I'm sure the Angel will be captured successfully," explained Vegeta, "If at any point I even _suspect_ things are taking a slight turn for the worse, _well_, I'll handle matters myself."

Vegeta let Ritsuko take a breath to speak, and then cut her off, "I therefore _suggest_ you call off your little toys, because if they even _attempt _to start dropping those pathetic little flash bangs on me, I'll just destroy them, planes and all. I will not be distracted from my enemy by such pathetic distractions."

Ritsuko seemed to be fighting to hold her temper in, "You can't do this."

"And just how do you plan on stopping me?" asked Vegeta, "by dropping an N2 mine on me? And here was me hoping you had something that could do more than just dry my hair."

Misato was about to butt in with her own objections on the matter, however Shinji chose that moment to interrupt, and not in a way that helped the officer's position, "Well that's a relief."

Asuka's voice came in after, "Yeah, at least _someone's_ got a better plan than our all-too-wise supreme commander."

"Go, Vegeta!" called Shinji, more jokingly than anything else.

"Yeah, we believe in you!" chimed Asuka, joining in.

"Both of you, Quiet!" Misato snapped, liking neither the pilot's thought processes nor the way Vegeta was chuckling at her side.

Vegeta smirked, "Well, I guess the decision's been made then."

"Meaning?" demanded Ritsuko as she joined them in the command room.

"_Meaning_," replied Vegeta, "that when it comes down to it, only the pilot's matter, "a smile spread across his face, "Because they, at _any_ time, can take full command of the situation against your will, simply by doing nothing at all. And you know what that means?" He asked, "It _means_ that NERV is nothing without the pilots. Without the three children who stand in front of Angels for you, you're just a big black hole for money staffed by pen pushers, weaklings and their trio of big ugly paperweights," Vegeta's smirk turned more evil by the second as he continued, "without the help of a bunch of teenage children."

The room was deathly silent. Ritsuko was fuming, her pencil already snapped in her fist as Vegeta verbally punched NERV in the gut repeatedly. Misato wasn't much happier, primarily because Vegeta had pointed out the main point of shame for the adults who worked for NERV, along with just how little value they placed on their most fragile and valuable personnel.

In the cockpits of Units 01 and 02, Shinji looked to Asuka and shrugged his shoulders, "You know…he does sort of have a point."

Asuka raised an eyebrow and nodded, "_Yeah…_ he _does_, doesn't he."

Ritsuko snapped at both pilots "Shut up, both of you!"

Vegeta laughed under his breath at the trouble he was causing.

Asuka grinned, whispering audibly enough to be heard, "Psst, hey, Shinji. Let's go on strike."

Shinji grinned at the remark, imagining all the NERV personnel sitting round twiddling their thumbs due to lack of EVA pilots.

"Are you two quite finished?" said Misato with a tired sigh, deciding to stop it before even she started getting amused at their offhand remarks.

"Oh yes, ma'am" Shinji chimed suddenly.

"All ready on this end," Asuka said, having enough of the joke for now, mouthing 'We'll talk' to Shinji.

Vegeta gave a disinterested grunt as he turned and walked toward the door, "I'll be outside if anyone wants me," he said, returning Ritsuko's near death-glare with a simple smile.

Vegeta headed out and down the short hallway to the exit, opening it and bumping square into a duo of NERV lieutenants.

"Watch it, you incompetent-"Vegeta's words died in his throat as his brain registered the face of the person standing next to the one who had bumped into him.

Dark eyes met dark eyes. Vegeta was about to say something whilst Maya, the one who had bounced clean off Vegeta's chest, pulled herself to her feet and dusted herself off, but Gohan raised a single finger up to his lips.

Vegeta frowned for an instant before he realised what was going on. The prince tilted his head a millimetre in acknowledgement, remaining silent.

Maya stood back up, blanching in horror as she found herself eye to eye with Vegeta, "I…I'm so-"

"_Whatever." _dismissed the Saiyan, walking straight past them both and out the building, leaving Maya to heave a huge sigh of relief.

-Z-

The door slammed shut behind Vegeta, the prince stopping immediately outside.

He was silent in thought, the NERV personnel smartly choosing to leave him be and just work around him, 'So, _Gohan's _here…' he mulled, 'And he's just waltzed right in through the front door and into their command structure, and the fools haven't got a clue…Bulma, was this your doing?'

Vegeta smirked, 'Things just got much more interesting. And it seems he wants to remain undetected also. Ingenious; a pilot and a Saiyan right under their noses; oh how I look forward to seeing the looks on their faces…'

Vegeta started moving, hovering up into mid-air to watch as Unit-02 was hoisted into position.

-Z-

"All stations reporting ready, ma'am," announced Hyuuga.

Misato nodded "Right, activate the EVAs."

-Z-

Shinji sat in his seat as the world around him began to blur, feeling the first stages of neural synchronisation beginning.

'Here we go again…' thought the Third Child with mild anticipation as his mind was suddenly linked with the EVA. The suddenness of the embrace the machine wrapped him in caused him to gasp for air, as if somebody had just glomped his consciousness. Despite the shock, it was almost… pleasurable.

'Glad to see me, are you?' Shinji thought with a smile as the world solidified around him into view. He sank back, exhaling a warm LCL tinged sigh.

"Pilot linkups completed, ma'am," Gohan announced from his monitoring station as he read the simple readouts on display. 'Well, this is easy enough,' he thought, 'Just read out what it says and state the obvious, sounding dramatic when necessary.'

"Sync level status?" enquired Ritsuko curiously, as if as a side note.

Hyuuga glanced at his display for a second before answering, "Asuka's sync ratio is holding steady at sixty-nine point eight percent. Shinji's is holding at, "his eyes widened in surprise, "By god, it's actually holding at ninety-five point two percent!"

"What in the hell is causing it?" Ritsuko mumbled thoughtfully, biting her lip in thought.

"Never mind that for now," said Misato, "Begin the operation!" she commanded, the atmosphere in the room suddenly electrifying.

Several seconds and confirmations later, the capture operation began…

-Z-

"Heeere we go!" said Asuka as cheerfully as one could when being lowered into the mouth of an active volcano.

Shinji's eyes narrowed as he watched Unit-02 lowered into the magma, gripping his controls for comfort. It wasn't exactly a sight he found comforting, especially when it was of his friends out there.

"Hey, Shinji," chirped Asuka's voice over the intercom, "Check it: Perfect scissors dive!"

"Gyaah…" Shinji groaned, slapping himself in the face and wondering how misplaced his concern had been.

-Z-

In the entry plug of Unit-02, Asuka was quickly finding the novelty of the situation wearing off.

"This isn't an entry plug suit," groaned Asuka, "it's more like a damn sauna bath." She complained, having little else to do other than stew and watch the depth indicator change. She decided to try and cheer herself up, and so opened the vid-link to Unit-01, "Hey, Shinji?"

"A-Asuka, are you okay?" asked Shinji, concern in his voice.

"I'm fine," she sighed, "but I swear ,this whole mission sucks big time. I mean I'm being dropped into a freaking volcano here!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be you right now," said Shinji with sympathy.

"You know what, we should form a union!" she stated suddenly.

Shinji laughed at the concept, "What, with a grand total of three members?"

"Three?" she echoed, "More like two. Can you imagine the First Child campaigning for better working conditions or demanding better pay?"

Shinji grinned at the thought of Rei standing on a picket line, holding up a sign, "What are you going to complain about first then, _union chief Asuka_?"

"Oh, that's easy: Super Hazard pay and flexitime! I will of course have to form strong ties with organised crime first, but that's just a perk of the job I guess…"

Shinji couldn't help but laugh.

"Would you two _please_ concentrate," grumbled Ritsuko over the voice link.

"Yeah, yeah," intoned Asuka, leaning into the monitor, "We'll talk about this later," she whispered, winking conspiratorially before killing the link.

Misato groaned dejectedly, "Great, this is only the third Angel they've fought together and they're already examining their worker's rights…we'll have the child labour people at our door before we know it."

"Target depth is reached," announced Gohan from his seat to the right of Misato, "We are now above maximum safe depth for the equipment."

"Asuka, any sign of it?" asked Misato.

"No sign of it anywhere," she replied, clicking through the various viewing modes, "Even with the CT monitor on I can still barely see a thing."

"The convection currents must be faster than we thought," theorised Ritsuko.

"It's not matching _any_ of our predictions," commented Makoto.

"It doesn't matter," said Misato "continue the operation; descend further," she ordered.

Gohan turned to look at the lavender-haired woman, 'she's already over the maximum depth. Surely she must understand that.'

"Y-yes, ma'am," One of the techs replied hesitantly before complying with the order.

The slow descent continued as the EVA was lowered dangerously far past the safety limit. Gohan continued counting out the depth indicator.

"The second coolant pipe has just fractured," said Gohan, adding '_I think_…' worriedly in his head, praying he was reading the instruments correctly.

"Asuka, what's your status?" asked Misato.

"Nice and toasty; I just want to finish this up and take a nice, long shower."

"Don't worry, there's a hot spring resort near here. How's about I take us there once we're done here."

Unit-02's lowering continued, along with the disturbing sound of metallic groaning as pressure built up around it.

"That's maximum depth plus a hundred and twenty metres, ma'am," said Gohan.

The sound of shattering steel filled the room, causing many of them to flinch.

"Eva-02 has lost its progressive knife," said one of the other technicians.

Gohan growled under his breath, 'Great, not only is she being crushed and boiled to death, but now she's finished if she _actually_ has to fight that thing, ' "That's maximum depth plus _two hundred,_ ma'am," he half-snapped with an edge to his voice.

Hyuuga seemed to agree with him, "Captain Katsuragi, you've got to stop this! Have you already forgotten there's a human being in there?"

Misato flinched at the comment, trying her best to retain a professional composure, however she still found herself asking in a worried and slightly emotional voice, "_Asuka?_"

"Don't worry," she replied confidently, "I'm fine. I can still go on a bit further."

"You heard her," said Misato weakly, "keep going…"

It was barely thirty seconds later when an indicator bleeped loudly to the side, "Corrected depth coordinates have been reached," announced Maya.

"Right, Asuka, this is it. Keep your eyes peeled." Said Misato, "If we don't find it now then I'm pulling you back up. I won't risk lowering you another inch in that thing."

It didn't take long for a blurred oval shape to come into full view of Unit-02 as the depth levelled off.

"_There_," Asuka breathed, as if worried raising her voice might somehow awaken it, "I see it…"

"Right," said Misato, "Prepare for capture."

"Don't forget, Asuka," began Ritsuko, "due to the convection currents moving both you and the target, you'll only get one shot at this."

"Thirty metres to contact," said Maya.

"Relative velocity two point two on the axis," informed Asuka as she eased the black frame of the capture cage out and over the silent form,

"_And…_" She said tensely as she activated the cage, the invisible barrier extending around the black shape before solidifying, "_…Gotcha_! Electromagnetic cage is spread, no problems detected. Target has been captured."

Everyone in the command room seemed to exhale together as the indicator came up green with the word 'captured' in the center.

"Nice work, Asuka," said a noticeably relieved Misato.

"The operation is completed," announced Asuka, "Am beginning my ascent."

Shinji's voice came over the intercom "Hey, Asuka," he said, having remained silent as not to distract her during the operation, "You alright?"

Asuka smiled smugly, "But, of course, the only thing we fear is fear itself. This was easy…"

Shinji smiled with relief at her words, sinking back into his chair to relax.

Gohan still sat with his eyes glued to the screen whilst everyone else took a moment to relax.

He frowned at the monitor, 'Something's not right; I can still sense its ki. It almost feels like it's going to…oh, no…' Gohan suddenly mashed his control panel to bring back up the live image of the Angel's dormant state, "_too late…_" he whispered.

Up above, Vegeta snarled as she sensed the Angel below, "_Fools…_"

"It's goin' crazy!" shouted Asuka as the energy cage began shaking and expanding outwards.

"It's starting to hatch!" shouted Ritsuko over the din of the alarms, "It's far earlier than we expected!"

"Cage status?" asked Misato quickly.

"There's no way it can handle this!" replied Makoto loudly, and everyone suddenly found themselves forced to sit back and watch in horror…

Sandalphon was born.

"We're changing the operation," announced Misato, "the objective is now to destroy that Angel! Unit-02, prepare for combat!"

"You got it!" replied Asuka with a smirk as the Anomalocaris-like Angel glided through the magma as if it were water.

"It's pointless…" mumbled Gohan as his scientific mind registered exactly why a direct assault with anything Unit-02 had to offer would fail in this environment.

Asuka's mind also clicked on something as she reached down to her EVA's leg, "Damn it, I forgot I lost the prog. Knife! The Angel!" She said in a panic as the Angel reared about and charged the EVA.

"Asuka, we're going to drop you Unit-01's progressive knife!" shouted Misato.

"Gyah! Jeez, throw it now, Shinji!" shouted the Second Child as the Angel smashed into her side.

"Heeere it comes!" called Shinji as he raised his EVA's arm and hurled the knife downwards into the lava below.

"It's _pointless_…" Gohan repeated, clenching his fist and finding it difficult to remember the last time he felt so frustrated.

"You saysomething, _second lieutenant_?" snapped Misato at the undercover tech.

Gohan snarled and, gritting his teeth, pushed himself up "Yes, I did! Do you have _any_ idea how much the heat will have distended that things molecular structure by now? A progressive blade _won't work!_" He shouted, stabbing a finger at the Angel.

Misato's anger suddenly seemed to deflate, "W-wha?" she turned to the doctor, "Ritsuko?"

The captain could see the doctor run it through her head, and as the colour drained from her face, Misato knew the answer before it was spoken, "By god, I think he's right…"

"Damn it! Hurry up with that thing!" Asuka shouted as the Angel lurched for her again.

Asuka's arm reached up and retrieved the blade just in time for the Angel to launch itself at the EVA once more, this time clamping its mouth over the surface of the EVA's head in an attempt to crush it.

Asuka frantically raised the sonic blade up and brought it down on the angel's body, causing sparks to fly as it smashed off the solid surface.

"He's right!" Ritsuko shouted, "The progressive knife won't work while the Angel's body is under these conditions!"

"Asuka, you've gotta cool that thing down!" shouted Shinji over the comm, "Think physics!"

"Thermal expansion!" exclaimed Asuka. She glanced up suddenly, sighting the coolant pipes. Flipping the knife upwards in the EVA's fist, she slashed in an upward arch, severing the coolant feed that had been rigged up to the EVA's shoulder. She grabbed the flailing pipes in one hand and rammed them down the Angels' throat.

"The coolant, of course!" exclaimed Ritsuko.

"Transfer all the pressure to coolant pipe three, _do it_!" ordered Misato.

Seconds later the ultra-cold liquid poured into the Angel's body, causing it to convulse under the unbelievably fast temperature change.

"Now _die_, god damn you!" roared Asuka as she drove the prog knife straight down into the top of the angel's head.

Sparks flew as the blade punctured straight through its hide and into the core beneath.

Sandalphon flailed and fell limply away, but not before arching sideways and slashing open the four remaining coolant pipes to Unit-02 as its final act.

Seconds later, the Angel disintegrated into nothingness…

"Gyahh, _shit_!" cursed Shinji. Without a second thought, he rushed his EVA forward at blinding speed towards the cavern edge and leapt out into the air over the lava, orientating himself into a perfect pencil dive, spreading his AT field around him an instant before he plunged into the magma below, one hand shooting out and sliding down the retracting coolant pipes as a guide down.

"Shinji, what in the hell do you think you're doing?" bellowed Ritsuko as the unprotected (and most valuable according to standing orders) EVA plunged straight into the liquid ore below.

'live, oh, god please let her live!' Shinji mentally pleaded. Suddenly, in the darkness below, the bulbous white form of Unit-02's protective helmet came into view.

Shinji frowned, getting ready and knowing he'd have only one decent chance to grab her.

Ignoring the now searing heat around him, he lashed out and grasped firm hold of the descending EVA's hand.

Asuka gasped in shock as her EVA jolted to a sudden halt. She tilted her head up in shock, "Shinji?" she gasped as she looked up into the eyes of Unit-01, which glowed brilliant white even through the lava. She couldn't help but laugh slightly in her relief, "Heh, idiot… You show off."

The Second Child finally allowed herself to relax with a content smile as both EVAs were returned to the surface.

-Z-

Vegeta laughed out loud as he watched the scene unfold below, "Well I'll be damned, the boy's got some guts after all," he lamented, smiling as he spun about and flew off back to camp; he had some news he was sure Goku would want to hear…

-Z-

_To be continued…_

-XA-

[A/N] Huh, well this one ended up four pages longer than it began, just goes to show… Anyways. I hope you enjoyed this little installment; I'll do my best to get the next part out as soon as possible. I'll probably close the poll before the next chapter comes out so if you do want to cast a vote on that by all means do so. As I recall, it was from here on that things go a bit more off in their own direction, as up until now I had been sort of sticking to the NGE storyline, but I'll give no more away until then.

See you in Chapter 14: Allegiance.


	14. Chapter 14: Allegiance

[A/N] Funny how much can happen in short chapters. While this one certainly isn't as long as some of the chapters past, and certainly not the ones to come, I still hope you'll enjoy it anyway. I'll be closing the poll two days after this chapter is posted, so last chance to cast your opinion in that. Nice for all your kind words too, I do value your opinions and they have indeed forced changes in the story in the past. Anyways, enough rambling from me, let's get on with it.

Crowd: YES, GET ON WITH IT!

**Chapter 14: Allegiance **

"_Dragonballs_?" repeated Shinji with a raised eyebrow as the elevator he was sharing with Gohan descended.

"That's right," said Gohan with a nod, "I gathered all seven up and summoned the eternal dragon, Shenron, "he explained, leaning back against the elevator wall.

"You have dragons?" asked Shinji dryly.

"Magic dragons," clarified Gohan, as if it would help clear up his disbelief.

It didn't.

Shinji just shook his head, believing that you could either let the crazy turn you into a jabbering wreck or just go along with it. He chose the latter, "So Shenron, what? Does he have the power to switch people between worlds or something?"

"Not just that," explained Gohan, "he can grant any two wishes the finder of the Dragonballs desires."

Shinji's eyes widened, "_Any_ two wishes?"

Gohan shrugged, "within reason, there are a few limits, but it's pretty much your heart's desire."

Shinji looked off to the left shiftily, "_So, _these Dragonballs. I…don't suppose they'd be in our world too, would they?"

"That depends…"

"On what?" asked Shinji.

"Well let me ask you this: Do you have a green-skinned guy with pointy ears and magical powers living somewhere on your planet?"

Shinji blinked, opening and closing his mouth a few times as words failed him for a moment, finally settling on, "…not that I know of."

"Then no."

"Damn," said Shinji, "So, this Shenron, is he some kind of genie or something?"

"I suppose you could call him that."

"Then why don't you just keep summoning him and make wishes all the time?"

"Because, Shinji, once we make our wishes, the balls scatter to the four corners of the earth and turn into stone for an entire year before they regain their power and can be used again. Luckily we have a device that can detect the subtle energy signature they give off once they become active again, but even then we only use them in cases of emergency," he explained.

"I see…" said Shinji, trying to ignore his common sense's objections over the fact that he was having conversations about magic dragons and their balls, "So what was your other wish?"

"I didn't make one," he said, "You see, there's this clause in the whole deal that says if we choose to only make one wish, then we need only wait four months before we can make another, as opposed to wasting the second."

"So these Dragonballs could only send you here, but not take you home?"

"Afraid not," said Gohan, "That was the first thing we tried, but it seems that whatever is preventing Gotenks and Gogeta from forming a dimensional hole home is also blocking the dragon's abilities to take people back too. It's a bit of a one way street if you know what I mean."

Shinji nodded, assimilating the info. His brow creased into a frown a moment later, "Wait a minute, who's _Gogeta_?"

"Huh, oh you mean you haven't seen that yet?"

"Seen what?"

"Well, you know how Gotenks is the combination of Goten and Trunks?" He asked, Shinji nodding a second later, "Well split up Gogeta's name and guess."

Shinji blinked as realisation hit, "You mean Goku and Vegeta can-"

Gohan cut him off, "Vegeta hates using it, and my dad sees it as unfair; fighting two on one, so it's not something that happens often. It was my dad fused with Vegeta who came into this universe originally, using a combination of his power and the same device my dad now uses to communicate back home; it's kind of a dimensional aimer as far as I can tell."

"Well how did he _aim_ it in the first place, since they were on the other side at the time?" asked Shinji, barely managing to grasp the concept.

"We just went out to where my dad last sensed Gotenks' position and Bulma took some readings of the residual energy in the area. Once she'd worked out what had happened and where they went, it was just a matter of her devising a machine that could follow after Trunks and Goten. To put it simply, she held the nail, and my dad just hammered it through. We only managed to open a tiny hole, but it was all dad needed to teleport through with his instant transmission technique.

Shinji was quiet for a moment; he knew Gotenks was stronger than either Goku or Vegeta individually, so the combination of the adults must've been a fearsome thing to behold.

The Third child returned to the subject of the Dragonballs, "Still, you'd better keep those Dragonballs a secret while here," he said, "Jeez, the power to grant wishes…that seems a bit of a dangerous thing to have lying about _any_ world."

"Well, you _do _need to find all seven from around the world and bring them together in one spot, so I guess that kind of helps, but it has backfired on us in the past. The dragon doesn't really discriminate over who he grants wishes to."

Shinji shook his head in exasperation, "I shouldn't believe a word of this, but lately nothing seems too surprising anymore, be it dead people's souls in giant robots, Angels raining down their divine retribution on us, Aliens from other universes or magical wish granting dragons."

Gohan grinned, "Must be nuts to be you."

Shinji smiled weakly, "Gohan, you have _no_ idea."

Silence descended for a moment, which Shinji chose to break, "_Right, _I've got a harmonics test coming up, so that should at least keep _some_ of the people you want out of the way busy."

"Gotcha, and while that's going on I go hunt down this Adam thing, right?"

"Right, we know where the _second_ angel is, but we need to find out where father is hiding the first. If we can keep tabs on both then we can at least have a Sword of Damocles hanging over both Father's and Seele's plans," explained Shinji carefully, ignoring the fact he was casually plotting against his father and the ultra-secret organisation that practically ran the entire world.

"Sword of what?"

Shinji opened his mouth to explain, then thought better of it, "Never mind, it's just a saying. It means we'll be able to effectively put a smack on both plans whenever we need to."

"Ahh, got you," replied Gohan, "So, umm, what's this Adam thing _look like_ anyway?"

Shinji raised his index finger and opened his mouth to explain, then froze. He hummed to himself in through for a second, "You _see_…the thing about that-"

"-You have absolutely no idea, do you?" cut in Gohan dryly.

"Not as such, no…" he admitted, "all we know is that it's probably being kept in a bio-containment case somewhere. My guess would be in a cold storage facility. They call it an embryo; therefore It's probably really small, maybe only a couple of inches long." Explained Shinji, remembering what details he could from the top secret document entitled 'The Object Known as Adam'

It was a very dull read.

"An _embryo_?" echoed Gohan, "How am I supposed to find something like that?"

"_Well," _began Shinji uncomfortably, knowing the Saiyan wasn't going to like the next part, "I suppose there's only _one_ place in this whole base where they would keep something like that stored up."

"And where's-"Gohan began to ask, but Shinji saw realisation dawn as he stopped talking. He let out a groan and wiped his face with a palm, "Oh god, not _there…_"

After reading up on the data, Gohan wasn't particularly looking forward to sneaking around in the depths of NERV's basement alone, even if he was a Super Saiyan.

"Here," Shinji said, balancing on one foot so he could pull the small scouter capsule from his sock, "You'll need this to get in."

Gohan grudgingly took the capsule and slid it into his uniform pocket, "Alright then," he sighed, "I'll go take a look around."

"_Great…_" Shinji said, clapping the dejected looking Saiyan once on the shoulder as the elevator doors opened. He stepped out, "Have fun, Gohan," he said, smiling and leaving a somewhat scowling Gohan behind as the doors closed, separating them.

-Z-

Gohan smacked himself on the forehead in frustration, "Aaaw, why is it always _me_?" He groaned as he reached over and hit the very lowest button on the elevator control panel. Slowly, the elevator began it's descent. , "Oh well then," he sighed, "Terminal Dogma, here I come…"

-Z-

'As relaxing as these tests may be, they're still so _damn_ boring…' Shinji mentally moaned as he sat in the test plug linked to his EVA.

The pilot suddenly felt the machine's embrace that he was in slacken somewhat. The EVA seemed somewhat…pushed away, 'Well, they _are,_' thought Shinji back apologetically, shrugging his shoulders and just praying no one was watching him

'It's nothing _we_ can do anything about, short of asking them to pump some music through.' Shinji found himself on the verge of laughing at the concept of mentally talking to his EVA, as if he had somehow hurt its feelings.

Shinji's grin settled back into a smile as the EVA came back to him. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously, 'You know, If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were pouting. That's very immature,' he thought, relaxing deeper into the embrace of the EVA as the test continued.

_'Well I've got to do something to keep myself entertained, little one…'_

"What the hell!" Shinji yelped, half-choking on the LCL as he shot bolt upright, looking around in terror for the source of the amused whisper.

Ritsuko moved quickly forward and pressed down on the microphone control, "Shinji, what's wrong? Are you alright?" she asked, a rare note of concern in her voice.

Shinji's eyes settled finally on the doctor, asking in a spooked voice, "Did you say something?"

"Well, I asked what's wrong?"

"No, no, before that," he said, his face an almost perfect albino-white.

"Nothing…" replied Ritsuko.

"You sure?"

"Very."

"Oh," said Shinji, "Okay, never mind then," he said, sounding suddenly dismissive and sitting back down, plastering a look of disinterest on his face.

"Shinji?" Rei's voice sounded over the intercom, the worry oddly clearer in her voice.

"It-It's okay, Rei," replied Shinji, trying to keep his voice as level and reassuring as possible, "I'm fine, just got a little…startled, is all."

Rei inclined her head, seeming to accept his explanation and then went back to her concentrations.

"Are you _sure,_ Shinji?" Ritsuko enquired.

"Don't worry," he said, "I'm fine. I guess I slipped into a daydream or something. I must've just startled myself."

"Okay then, Shinji," replied Ritsuko, not sounding entirely convince, " just try and keep your mind focused from now on."

"Will do," replied Shinji, shuffling back and settling back into his seat, closing his eyes.

Once the screen went dead, Ritsuko turned to Maya, "Well, Maya?"

"Don't ask me how ma'am, but whatever he's been doing since the last test started has pushed his sync ratio up to ninety-eight per cent."

"_What?_" breathed Ritsuko in disbelief, turning to the monitor image of the three pilots.

"What does it mean, Sempai?" asked Maya.

"I don't know. I'm not truly sure _what _the outcome would be of someone breaching the synchronisation threshold and hitting, or even worse, _exceeding, _one hundred per cent," said, Ritsuko, genuinely worried about just what kind of situation was developing right under their noses.

"It should be a good thing though, right, Sempai? I mean, it could at least help Shinji fight better, couldn't it?" asked Maya uncertainly, not used to seeing her senior so confounded by a situation.

Ritsuko said nothing, now deep in thought, 'yes, I have no doubt about that, Maya.' Thought the doctor grimly to herself, 'What I'm doubting is _who_ will be fighting at that point…'

'I gotta stop eating Asuka's cooking,' thought Shinji, feeling his heart rate settle, 'Misato's cooking is normally bad enough, but just _what _was with that mushroom soup she made?' Shinji contemplated as he felt the synchronisation peak out in his mind again.

'_I try to say hi' _the voice said. Shinji opening an eye and glancing around himself ,'_and you say 'what the hell?' Where did you learn manners like that, young man?' _

Shinji took several long, calming breaths, 'Okay, I'm not going to panic this time…'

'_Good...'_ replied the voice happily.

"Because I know what you are…'

The hauntingly familiar female voice sounded gleeful, '_T__hat's great!'_

'You're a mushroom, _aren't you…_'

There was a long, _long _pause, and Shinji could feel the confusion resonating back, '_I'm a __**what**__?' _

'Well, I refuse to be victim to any food-related hallucinations. I've got enough voices in my head as it is.'

There came a patient sigh, _'Shinji-Chan… I'm no hallucination. You know who I am, what I don't understand is why you're being so evasive.' _

'No, No, No… You're not her.' Shinji thought, exercising great restraint to stop himself from shaking his head.

'_Then what am I, a __**mushroom**__?' _retorted the voice with exasperation and sarcasm.

'It's easier to swallow – no pun intended – than what _you're_ trying to feed me.'

_'Shinji…'_ the voice breathed out tiredly.

'Alright then,' began Shinji

'Y_es?' _sounded the voice with a note of expectation.

'If you're her, then…' Shinji paused to think on a non-internal-monologue level.

'_Y__es?'_ she pushed.

'How many memo groups are there in human DNA?'

'_You're asking a woman with a first class honours degree in evolutionary biology a question from middle school general science?'_

'You didn't answer-'

'-_Forty,'_ she cut in with a note of smugness.

'Okay… then…what's the meaning of life?"

'_Bacon'_

'How is the meaning of life bacon?'

'_Ever had a hangover?'_

'Of course not.'

'T_hen you're obviously not qualified to debate the issue.'_

'Okay, The square root of three million, four hundred and twenty-two thousand, five hundred and thirty-six?'

'_One thousand, eight hundred and fifty,' _she replied without hesitation_._

Shinji blinked, 'Really?'

'_Yup… Seriously, when it comes to sums I'm like Rain Man...only a woman…in a giant robot.'_

'What's the weather like in Tunisia?'

There was a pause, '_What?'_

'Don't you know?'

_'Of __course__ I don't.'_

'Ah hah, caught you!'

_'how on earth do you expect me to know that, either way?'_ she demanded.

Shinji shrugged his shoulders 'I dunno, my cell phone does, for some reason I thought you might too.'

Shinji could've sworn he heard the voice facepalm itself.

_'Shinji!'_ The voice groaned.

Shinji's tone changed instantly, becoming quiet, slightly thick with emotion, 'I'm sorry, I just wanted to hear your voice some more,' he said, trying with great restraint not to shed any tears, 'Hello, mother… how've you been?'

Shinji felt the smile on the source of the voice, _'I'm fine, little one… And, thank you…' _

'Thank me? What for?'

Yui's voice softened, _'for calling to me… I've been so desperate to be with you for so long… You've come so far without me. I've missed you so much…' _

'Come on, we can't go getting all emotional here. What would the NERV guys say?'

Yui choked a laugh, _'I have a few ideas, though judging from that image shooting through your mind you seem to imagine it involving three men in black suits banging on your door.' _

'You're _reading my mind?_' Shinji asked, shocked and suddenly fighting to control what thoughts went through his head.

_'Only the best bits,' _Yui replied cheekily, as if it were a consolation.

Shinji was not consoled, 'Gyah! You're incorrigible, you know that?'

_'hmm, like mother like son, I guess. You've been developing your 'incorrigibility' lately too, it seems.' _

'Only to cause the downfall of NERV and Seele from within and prevent the destruction of all mankind, you know, nothing _serious. _At least I'm turning in all my homework on time…'

Yui chuckled softly, _'It seems you've become gutsy too, you're kind of like your father in that way…'_

'I'll take that as a compliment,' muttered Shinji.

_'Don't worry, little one, It'll all be over soon. Just wait a little longer, I promise. Everything's going to be okay…' _whispered Yui comfortingly.

'I know…' Shinji began, pausing to decide if he should 'say' the next part. He decided to bite the bullet, 'I _won't_ let it go his way… You know that, don't you?'

Shinji could somehow see his mother's weak smile in his mind, _'I know that, son. Don't worry, I'm on your side, I always have been, and I always will be. That's what moms are for, after all.' _

Shinji smiled widely, 'Thanks, mother.' he said, pausing to think on what to say next, '_so…_ are you always watching?'

_'In what way?'_

'You know, from Unit-01.'

_'In a way, I'm always watching you. I can feel when you're in pain, angry, happy or scared no matter where you are. But if you're asking whether I watch as things go by through Unit-01's eyes, then yes, I do. I've got to keep myself busy somehow.' _

'Umm… _Always_ watching? Even last week when I was here-'

_'-with Rei?'_ cut in Yui, her tone borderline mischievous.

'Well… Um…that is… heh heh.'

'_Oh I'm so proud!' _cooed Yui, '_My little boy's becoming a man!' _

Shinji growled, finding her tone a tad too loving. He knew when he was being teased, _'Mom!_ Nothing happened!'

_'Not until later on anyway…' _Yui muttered, and Shinji imagined that, if she had a face, it would have a cat-like smirk on it right now.

'Wh- Stop reading my mind already!'

_'I'm not,' _she retorted, '_it's the only thing that's been going through your head ever since I mentioned her name.' _

'N-no… It was just-'

_'Rei's soft lips-_

'Mother…_'_growled Shinji, grinding his teeth.

'-_Rei's slender skin-'_

'Mom…'

'_-Rei's firm-' _

'_MOM!' _Shinji barked as loudly as one could inside their own head, 'I can't believe you've got a Misato complex…'

_'A What? Oh, yes, Dr Katsuragi's daughter. Such a nice young woman, I like her.' _

'You would,' Shinji mentally grumbled, 'I bet you have an opinion on just about everyone…'

'_Oh, pretty much…' _Yui replied, nodding in precisely the same way that disembodied people can't.

-Z-

"Sempai, look!" exclaimed Maya, the doctor approaching a moment later, "Look at his brainwave patterns!" she breathed, pointing at the graph data displaying the pilot's ego borderline data.

'Please, no more mysteries,' sighed the doctor to herself, polishing her glasses as she bent down, "What's this?" she mumbled, replacing her spectacles to make sure she hadn't misread the information, "They're…_fluctuating?_ It's as if there's…_another pattern_ in there. And yet his synchronisation level is remaining steady." She felt the colour drain from her face slightly, "What the hell is happening to him?"

She then dared to add 'or should I say to _them?_' mentally. She leaned slightly closer to her assistant, "Maya, don't tell _anyone_ about this… That's an order."

The lieutenant glanced at her Sempai, and then nodded once silently.

-Z-

At the same time, in the non-too cosy area at the bottom of the shaft of Central Dogma.

Gohan's eyes traced over the huge steel form known somewhat grimly as 'Heavens Door'.

"This is it…" he whispered, pausing to regard the sign which kindly informed any trespassers that they would be shot on sight or be locked up for the rest of their days.

Or both.

"Okay, now let's just see how this works," lamented Gohan as he positioned the scouter over his right ear. He did his best to ignore the tinge of discomfort that came felt from wearing a device that he had most commonly seen on the faces of people who'd tried to kill him in the past. He aimed the green screen in the direction of the overly imposing and complex locking mechanism to the right of the door.

"Right," Gohan recanted, doing his best to remember off the top of his head, "Three quick pushes for interface mode; one to cycle between targets; then double press to initiate action…simple enough, I _hope…_" A few button pushes later, a thick yellow line encircled the large locking mechanism on the green screen. He then double pressed the button afterwards, standing back as the device whirred and worked to transmit the required security codes.

The lock's display fluctuated as if experiencing an error. An instant later the scouter completed the lock override and the display blinked to a large green 'Open', the security device having been tricked into thinking that Commander Ikari's access card and security code had just been entered.

Gohan sidestepped left until he was directly in front of the middle of the door as the great heaving mass of steel opened before him.

The Saiyan took a calming breath as the door finished opening. He quickly entered, turning about to close and lock the entryway behind him.

Gohan decided to now look around, having been apprehensive to even glance at what NERV would go to such lengths to hide so deep under the earth. It was a glance at the ground, followed by a circling glance at the walls that showed the general greatness of the room. This was the room the Angels were after, the most defended and hidden room on the planet, and it indeed had an air of finality; the floor itself ending in a platform over a lake of LCL, as if all roads lead and ended in this one place. He then glanced up at the far wall…and at what lay waiting for man at the world's beginning and end…

Gohan took a sharp intake of breath, feeling like his heart had just jumped into his throat. He scowled as he switched into an immediate defensive posture, eyes locked on the giant white form looming over him.

The Saiyan teen allowed himself to regain some lost oxygen, never taking his eyes from those engraved into the mask attached to the giant's face. He made slow left and right beeline towards it as he calmed down, a morbid curiosity overcoming him once he was certain that the great hulk was indeed dormant.

He glanced up at the mask affixed to its face, wondering what identity was hidden just behind that plate, if any...

Using as little ki as possible, Gohan levitated straight upwards, hovering around to the left and right behind the form's head. He regarded the attachments digging into the back of 'her' head and then down at the multitude of human torsos protruding out from its severed midsection. He felt revulsion as he regarded the crucified form, 'I've never seen anything so…_horrible._'

Gohan took a moment to look down at where the excess LCL bled down out of Lilith's back and into the pool around her. He had to fight the urge to throw up from both the sight and the raw stench of blood that held thick in the air, this made all the worse by his enhanced Saiyan sense of smell. The tech in disguise dropped back onto the platform below, turning back once more to face the form.

"So… _Lilith,_ I presume?" said Gohan out loud with a frown. He almost winced at how sharply his quiet voice severed the gaunt quiet that was in the air; the place really was as quiet as a grave.

The Saiyan's face remained serious as he studied the crucified form, pacing back and forth across the square floor, "Is it alive, or _isn't_ it?" Gohan whispered; baffled at the ki the legless form was giving off. "It's as if its life force were…_frozen_…no, that's not right. No, dormant is closer. No… _waiting_. _Yes, _that's it. You're waiting, aren't you? Waiting for _him_ to return to you…" he hypothesised quietly as he stopped dead in front of the suspended Second Angel. He shook his head in disbelief, "And they think they can control a power like this? Vegeta was right; they _are_ a bunch of fools." He said, almost sneering at the thought before walking off toward the elevator platform in the distance.

-Z-

Gohan lost track of how long he had been in the elevator as it descended further and further into the depths of the planet. He wondered idly in silence why they had modelled the glass elevator and its shaft to resemble a long strand of DNA. NERV really did have a macabre sense of theatrics, thought Gohan.

'Just how far underground have I come?' mulled the Saiyan, trying to calculate how deep he was below the earth's surface and, considering he had already come all the way to the base of Central Dogma, which was in itself in a base deep below the ground, he wouldn't be shocked if the elevator had to be specially designed to take the pressure.

'I must be miles deep by now… and just _who_ did they hire to decorate this place? It's like a cross between a lift and a museum exhibit,' he wondered, not being entirely aware of the fact that much of the structure of the Geo-front – or Lilith's Egg as it's true name goes— had been as it was for thousands, if not millions of years.

Suddenly the elevator jerked to a halt, revealing a long and dimly lit corridor.

Gohan exhaled a tired breath, 'dark and scary...why is it not surprising me?' he thought with exasperation, grudgingly leaving the elevator, but not before sending it back to the top level –if someone entered Terminal Dogma while he was down there, he didn't want to make his presence obvious due to the lift being at the bottom, as opposed to waiting at the top for an occupant.

The teen's Saiyan vision allowed him to easily make out the details around him in the dim light as he walked down the darkened corridor.

He stopped at the first set of doors, which was opposite another pair on the facing wall, 'Right, let's see what's behind door number one,' he thought to himself, retraining his scouter on the door and unsealing it before stepping inside.

'This whole place is like a cross between a vault and a house of horrors,' contemplated Gohan grimly as he entered the unlit room, "They should charge admission to the public. They'd have the _adults_ running off screaming for their mothers," he muttered out loud, surveying the new area.

The Saiyan walked forward onto a balcony, overlooking what appeared to be a vast dumping ground for what seemed to be copies of EVA Unit-00 in various stages of development, "I defer to my previous statement…"

He frowned in morbid curiosity, regarding the various husks, 'It's like some giant EVA morgue…'

Gohan glanced around. The room appeared as though it had been retrofitted for its current haphazard-looking purpose, as the wall still had written on it in long-faded letters 'Primary Testing Chamber'. He also noticed there were empty spaces lining the balcony, spaces which appeared to have been for banks of monitors and computer equipment. "So this was where Unit-01 was born…"

Satisfied his target wasn't here, and also desperately wanting to escape this chamber of dead monsters and lost mothers, Gohan turned about and left the room to continue his search.

He entered the room across the corridor. He cocked an eyebrow as he realised it was little more than a disused laboratory crossed with a hospital room, 'Why would they lock up rooms like this? It's completely empty,' he contemplated curiously, "And why does that only seem to freak me out all the more," he mumbled out loud, leaning back out of the room and locking it again, his spine chilling for the umpteenth time in as many moments.

Gohan decided to keep going onwards until something at least _looked_ promising. He chose to walk as far as he could, right to the end of the long corridor, and work systematically backwards. He guessed anything of note would probably be concealed deepest.

The first set of doors he came to were another double set, similar in design to the ones that had led into the EVA graveyard. He also noted that the door had what appeared to be a much more upgraded locking mechanism than the earlier ones.

Swallowing a gulp, Gohan unlocked the doors, which then slid open. He paused on the threshold. The room was perfectly circular, dark and apparently empty. He noticed the walls were all made of a transparent material, with whatever was beyond it being concealed in the darkness.

Reaching up to his scouter, Gohan prepared to trigger whatever lighting mechanisms may be behind the glass.

His hand froze.

Gohan realised he was shaking: something was _wrong_, and it had to do with whatever was in the darkness behind that glass.

Irrational fear tightened in the Saiyan's chest. He could sense something, multiple somethings… just barely, all behind that glass surrounding him. Gohan didn't know what might be there, but for some reason he found that he really didn't want to look at it directly.

The Saiyan turned quietly about and left the room and, just as they doors slid shut, in the darkness of that room, a muffled, soulless giggle resonated from within the emptiness.

A bolt of primal terror struck Gohan's very core as his hand fumbled desperately to lock the room back up once more.

His hand went to grasp his chest, suddenly realising he was out of breath, and also that a cold sweat was running down his brow.

Steeling himself, Gohan backed away and carried on, but still, he found himself keeping that door fixed in his peripheral vision for as long as he could until it was out of sight.

A mechanical resonation became audible in the gaunt quiet. The noise, Gohan realised, was coming from the next set of doors, whose outline he noticed had a distinctly blue hue to it, indicating light inside.

Gohan unlocked the doors, these hissing open as a hermetic seal was released. The Saiyan found himself hit by a blast of cold air from the inside. He immediately hugged his arms around himself, 'It's like a meat freezer…' He thought, entering the frosty chamber. The room was indeed illuminated.

In the far right corner was what oddly appeared to be a hospital bed. There was an attachment on it which looked the ones you'd see for supporting an arm when donating blood. There were multiple surgical implements on a tray next to it also. Gohan passed by this with only a slight curiosity, wondering who would want to be operated on in such low temperatures, and why only their hand.

The Saiyan moved to the source of the light in the room, which in this case took the form of a three-foot tall pedestal sat just in the centre of the floor by the rear wall. The light was coming from a blue rim of neon installed into the pedestal's top, and Gohan felt the room become colder as he approached, realising it also must have been the source of the cold temperature. What was more important was what rested atop it:

A biohazard containment case.

"And what have we here?" asked Gohan as he approached the pedestal, pausing to pull his uniform even tighter around himself against the cold. He blew hot air into his hands to get some circulation back before reaching down and undoing the clasps on the case, exposing the contents.

As satisfied smile pulled at the Saiyan's lips as he regarded the contents, "_Pay dirt…_"

I guess what they say is true,' thought Gohan to himself, 'It's _not_ the size that counts…'

He shook his head, staring down at the embryonic form of Adam for a few more seconds until, satisfied, he closed the case and resealed it. He quickly left the room, locking it back up behind him.

The teen Saiyan basked in the comparatively warmer air for a few seconds, mulling on what he found. 'They wouldn't have set that room up if they were only intending to keep Adam stored for just a few days,' thought Gohan, 'I think it's safe to say the Commander is going to be keeping it here until nearer the end of the Angel attacks.'

Turning about, Gohan began walking back toward the elevator back up to Central Dogma; he felt that this was more than enough for one day.

Unfortunately, he was forced to stop once more as a pair of footsteps became audible, heading slowly toward him from within the dark further down the corridor.

Glancing around in a moment of panic, Gohan slipped quickly into the shadows of a corner and out of sight as the form approached…

-Z-

Kaji's eyes were glancing left and right as he headed deeper into the forbidden depths of Terminal Dogma. In his right hand he gripped a service issue pistol, the weapon's presence offering scant comfort –being forced to pass by that white giant every time he entered never seemed to get any easier.

Suddenly he stopped. It looked as if he were doing so merely to get his bearings. With speed one wouldn't think the laid back man capable of, he swung about and levelled his firearm into the shadows behind him. He held it there for a minute, slowly reaching into his other pocket for his flashlight.

With a twist of the Maglite's top, he switched it on and illuminated the shadows…

There was nothing there.

Kaji's eyes narrowed as he frowned into the empty space. He had always had a sixth sense about certain things, one had to in order to survive in his line of business, and he could've _sworn_ that he wasn't alone, and that somebody was watching him.

The triple agent exhaled a breath and put his flashlight away, rubbing a few beads of cold sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. 'Must be my nerves, I've gotta calm down. Death by high blood pressure _isn't_ one I had envisioned.'

-Z-

With a silent blur, Gohan skidded to a halt near the lift platform. He had barely managed the burst of speed when Kaji turned his back, zigzagging his way all the way back to the elevator at a blinding pace.

His heart was racing, and it wasn't entirely the sudden dash which had caused it. It seemed this place was out to give him a heart attack. He sent a prayer of thanks that Kaji hadn't been as foresighted as he and sent the elevator back to the surface. The Saiyan stepped quickly aboard and hit the button for the top level.

Gohan leaned back against the transparent elevator wall as it ascended, his mind on the man who he had just barely evaded, "Ryoji Kaji… I knew he was an agent with _some_ kind of link with Seele, but I didn't know he had such easy access to Terminal Dogma. I wonder what _his_ true agenda is.'

Needless to say, Gohan was more than relieved once the imposing bulk of Heavens Door was safely locked shut behind him, putting an end to his first, and what he hoped to be _last_, trip into the bowels of NERV's true existence…

The Mystic Saiyan entered the nearby surface elevator and pushed the button leading to the geo-front surface, desperate just to see the light of day again…

-Z-

'Why do I feel light-headed?' enquired Shinji as the test continued.

_'Our minds are closing together' _said Yui, '_While we are synchronised like this it's almost as if your physical form is me, and my form is you, and yet both of us occupy our actual physical bodies at the same time. It's… rather confusing. Why, Does is upset you?' _

'No, nothing like that,' replied Shinji, 'I was just curious, that's all. It's very…pleasant,' he said, suddenly feeling a slight swell of warm approval in the connection around him at the reply.

_'I'm glad…'_ replied Yui in her soft tone.

'The test is almost over. I wonder what my score is this time.'

_'I could tell you right now if you'd like.'_

'Okay,' said Shinji, a little curious to see if she could actually do it, '_Surprise me_ with your wisdom.'

Yui sounded like she was grinning, _'hmm, okay. Your, or should I say _our_, current synchronisation ratio is now at a very healthy ninety-eight point four two five per cent.'_

'I'm up another four points,' thought Shinji, his tone almost concerned.

_'You're worried what will happen if you reach towards one hundred per cent, aren't you?' _said Yui.

'I think… I am. I don't know what it will mean if I do. Do you know what will happen?'

_'I'm afraid I don't, Shinji...' _said Yui in that consoling, yet reassuring voice that only a mother seemed able to pull off, '_But I won't let anything bad happen to you. Just know that, okay?' _

'I will,' replied Shinji, 'besides, mom, I think it might just be an _interesting_ experience,' he smiled internally, 'It's time to go. I'll see you later. Well, umm, that is I'll…you know what I mean._'_

Yui laughed, _'Yes, stay safe, son.'_

'I'll _try…_' he replied, his tone holding a note of mischief.

"Okay, people. That's us for the day, good work everyone."

Shinji's eyes blinked open at the sound of Ritsuko's voice over the comm. system.

"So, any news then?" asked Asuka, stretching her arms upward.

"Well, your ratio's up a couple of points and holding steady. Well done, Asuka" Ritsuko commented, "you too, Shinji, you're still progressing well. You're up just over four points from…from your previous score."

Shinji sighed in his usual way, "A good day for all, I suppose." 'pfft, _lucky guess,_ mom…'

"Indeed," chimed Asuka as she climbed out of her test plug and headed off to get changed.

-Z-

Shinji walked out of the changing room, shaking his hair free of excess water, almost running square into the waiting form of Rei Ayanami. And he only realised a second too late that flailing to a halt on a wet changing room floor was not the wisest thing to do from a safety perspective. Needless to say, he wasn't in the least bit surprised when he lost his footing and ended up flat on his back.

'Oh, look; another unfamiliar ceiling…' he thought from his position sprawled out on the tiled floor.

"And down I go again…" grumbled Shinji as Rei stepped forward to offer a hand back up.

The pilot blushed as he regained his footing and composure, Rei seeming completely unaffected by his discomfort.

"S-sorry about that, Rei…" Shinji said with an uneasy smile as he rubbed his head.

"There is no need to apologise, Shinji. The fault was mine, it would have been more proper to announce my presence. I shall endeavour to do better in future," said Rei, inclining her head slightly as Shinji focused his attention fully on her.

"_Still…_ Well, anyway, what can I do for you?"

"I have been thinking," began the First child, "we do not spend much time together; is this not odd considering the nature of our apparent relationship, Shinji?" enquired Rei in her usual, yet thoughtful voice.

Shinji glanced off to the side in thought as he spoke, "Yeah…" admitted Shinji sheepishly, "I guess we don't get much time together, with the exception of school and these tests."

In fact it was true, Shinji and Rei had spent absolutely nil time together with those scant exceptions. "But, hey!" said Shinji, "We've got no tests tomorrow, and since its Saturday why don't we…umm, do something together…or something?" stammered Shinji with all the grace one might expect of a teenager his age asking a girl out on their first date. His fists were rigid at his sides, unsure as to _why_ it made him so nervous just to ask out his own girlfriend.

"That would be most… _Enjoyable._" Rei commented, the last part being an almost seductive whisper as she passed him the briefest of smiles.

Shinji was now blushing furiously, even more so than expected, 'why does she have such an intense effect on me,' he wondered, observing as Rei suddenly paused, as if thinking on something.

"What? What's wrong, Rei?" Shinji stammered as Rei abruptly turned round, still gripped to his hand as she regarded him intently, as if waiting on him to take action.

Shinji hid his shock when he noticed the small blush on her pale cheeks as she opened her mouth to say something. She held back however; held back from the request that had been on her mind for days now…

'What does she-' began Shinji, as suddenly a suspicion hit him, 'No way… Does she want to- No… y_es_, I think she _does_…'

Shinji debated this to himself as Rei waited patiently, and it was clear now what she was waiting on, 'Come on, Shinji…' he mentally egged to himself, 'You can do this…you can _do this._ Being a bit bold never hurt anybody… But what if I'm not right? I _think_ I'm right…but what if I'm _not_….yaargh, _screw it, _I'm going for it!_'_

Rei blinked unsurely as she mustered the strength she needed to take the initiative, yet was stopped dead when Shinji brought his left hand up and softly brushed his fingertips over her rapidly heating cheek. He slid the hand down behind her back and gently drew her non-resistant body closer, her head tilting up as he gently moved closer and pushed his lips over hers…

Rei let out a soft whimper of pleasure in the form of a small "mphp!" as she gripped her arms behind her boyfriend's back.

Shinji was in no fitter a state as Rei gripped onto him tighter and suddenly probed her tongue into his mouth, meeting his own, matching his effort and deepening their embrace to a level neither could've imagined possible…

It took a second for Shinji's higher brain functions to battle their way back up to a level to where they could communicate a warning, '**Shinji!** This is your _brain_ speaking! I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you are currently _French kissing_ _Rei_… in the middle of NERV headquarters! Kindly cease offending action immediately!' Shinji's eyes slowly opened to find Rei very immersed in their activity. He slowly, and with _massive_ reluctance, managed to force himself to gently push away.

Rei's eyes opened as Shinji broke the bond they were engaged in. She looked questioningly at her partner, "Umm…perhaps we should pick this up at a more _appropriate_ time and place, Rei…" Shinji whispered, swallowing a gulp as he felt the echo of that softness fresh on his lips.

"Yes…" replied Rei simply, her voice little more than a breathless monotone whisper. Shinji couldn't help but notice that her cheeks were blushing a shade of red that one would've thought impossible for someone with the albino girl's complexion. They backed, or to be more accurate _staggered_, away from one another, turning about and heading off in opposite direction.

'And boldness prevails…' Shinji thought with a note of gleeful triumph, smiling widely to himself as he walked off down the corridor.

"Good evening, Maya…" said the pilot absentmindedly, the tech in question frozen to the spot and looking more than a little slack-jawed.

Shinji managed another four steps before his sub-conscious sent an emergency stop command to his feet.

The pilot squeaked to a halt, his brain kicking back in a second later as he turned rigidly about to face the lieutenant.

He heaved a long sigh, 'God, at least no one _else_ knows. Small consolation, I guess.'

"Good evening, Shinji… How are you?" Maya replied, her tone forcibly void of any surprise, as if she were ignoring a herd of elephants stomping around the room.

"Oh great, fine, excellent," Shinji stammered, more than a little hastily.

"I'll _bet_ you are," Freudian-slipped Maya under her voice.

"Come again?"

"Nothing!" She snapped back, quickly correcting herself.

"Yeah… well, umm…" Shinji began.

"I know the drill," sighed Maya, "It didn't happen, that was just some bizarre, passing hallucination."

"That's the size of it…"

"One hell of a hallucination," she muttered again.

"What?"

"Yeah, well…" said the lieutenant hastily, deciding to cut her losses, "You're probably too tired to talk anymore, so I'll just leave you be…"

"Y-yeah…well I'll catch you later, ma'am."

"Right…" Maya said as she headed off, reclaiming the clipboard she had dropped in shock from the floor before back, "And, Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time…"

"Hmm?"

"Get a room," and with that, she smirked, spun round and marched off...

Shinji stood dumbfounded in the hallway for a few seconds before laughing out loud and heading onwards, a slightly smug spring in his step.

-Z-

It was in the elevator upwards that Shinji bumped into a familiar black-haired technician, "Hey there, Gohan," said Shinji as the Saiyan entered the elevator, a pair of overly large sandwiches in each hand.

"mpmh," he mumbled around his food, bending down to press the floor button with his nose, "hey, Shinji. How wash your tesht?" he slurred, swallowing down half the sub in one go.

"Extremely odd…" replied Shinji, "What about you? How was your little trip into NERV's basement?"

Gohan gulped down his food before answering, "First of all, I am never_, ever_, going down there alone again!" he said, pausing to shudder, "I've fought aliens and bio-engineered monsters less scary than some of that stuff."

Shinji took a step forward, "What did you see? Did you find it?"

And so Gohan gave a brief explanation of his somewhat unpleasant journey to the depths of Terminal Dogma.

Shinji was silent in thought for a minute before talking, "Well it seems we at least have the full picture now…"

"Yeah, one hell of an _ugly_ picture at that," Gohan said, again with a small shudder.

"And Kaji," began Shinji, biting the tip of a fingernail in thought, "So he _is_ a triple agent then. That's one dangerous occupation, all things considered."

"I'll have to keep my eyes on him then," said Gohan.

Shinji laid back against the elevator wall with his hands behind his head, "At least we have the last piece on the board now. Now all we have to do is sit back and wait for a while to see how they move…"

"Before we have to intervene," Gohan added, "Well, I'm ready pretty much at any time. Just give the word and I'll end it in one."

"An army on the outside and a Trojan horse on the inside…all is going according to plan," commented Shinji quietly, his tone disturbingly like the only other living member of his family.

Gohan quirked up an eyebrow, "A Trojan what?"

Shinji glanced at him, then simply shook his head, "_Never mind_…"

-Z-

"What do you think it means, Ikari?" enquired Fuyutski as Dr Akagi went over the brain pattern analysis data from the sync tests.

"It _means_ that the Third Child may not have been telling us _quite_ as much as he truly knew," replied Gendo, his eyes still flicking over the graph printouts, "We must have this mystery solved as quickly as possible before the situation spirals beyond our control. Fuyutski, have-" Gendo turned and stopped mid-sentence, noticing the sub-commander already walking out his office.

"Don't worry, Ikari," sighed the old man, "I'm already doing it…"

'I'm starting to think Shinji was right; why doesn't he just _call _him here. Ikari, you're a _cold_ man…'

And so Commander Fuyutski left the office, pulling out his phone and pressing the number for Section 2…

-Z-

Shinji laid on his back on the couch in deep thought. Days had become so eventful and bittersweet lately. There were so many new revelations, so many things he knew he had not yet completely accounted for in his long-term plans.

All of them personal

Between EVA and the Saiyans, Shinji knew he could handle everything else. And then there was his mother…

'She says I've called to her, _awakened her_. What does she mean? Talk about a surreal conversation. Well at least I've avoided any more of Misato's interrogation. It seems she's forgotten about her little suspicions… I hope.'

"Hey, Shinji!" Asuka suddenly shouted, startling the young pilot back into focus

"W-what? What is it, Asuka?"

The redhead looked dejected for a second, "What's wrong with you lately anyway, Shinji? You've been becoming quieter and quieter ever since we first met."

"Quieter?"

"Well not _quieter._ I'd say…scarce; you're barely ever around, and when you are, you're either laying on your back in perpetual silence or just plain dying to get out of the room from me."

Shinji turned to face the Second Child as he sat up," It's not anything like that, Asuka," he said, "I like you, I really do. It's just… I've been…" Shinji's eyes fell, trailing once more off into silence.

"What?" Asuka prompted, tilting her head to keep the Third's eyes in view.

"…Distracted."

Asuka raised an eyebrow, "By what? _The First Child?_" And Shinji sensed it was more of an accusation than a question.

Shinji blushed furiously at that remark, "R-Rei, no! Nothing like that…"

"Uh huh…" said Asuka, her tone dubious, "I've seen you two at lunch together. You two have become so close she's effectively become the fourth stooge. Any closer and you'd be lip-locked. You seem to _always_ have time for Rei."

Shinji tried his best to force the lip comment from his head, "I said it's not like that. It's more like…she allows me to confide in her, that's all," and no, this wasn't the _entire_ truth, alright…it was a blatant lie, but he really wasn't sure if it was time to reveal his relationship with Rei to anyone else yet.

"_What?_" demanded Asuka, "and you can't confide in me? The one you _live_ with; the one who's usually never more than one _room_ from you?"

"_What?" _snapped Shinji back, "Without you either calling me dim-witted, stupid, an idiot, a pervert or just plain weak just because I might have _something_ to worry about? Be serious, Asuka…" said Shinji, flopping back down and turning away again.

Asuka however was now looking even more dejectedly than ever, "But… I wouldn't… If you just asked me to…" She mumbled, feeling worse and worse as she couldn't even find words to say that she would believe herself, "Try me…" she finally managed to get out, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"What?" Shinji blinked, rolling back over to glance back at the girl on the floor.

"I said _try me!_" she shouted, clenching her eyes shut, "Just…talk to me… I've got no one else to, except Hikari…"

Shinji's eyes widened for a brief second, a pang of guilt and pity stinging him as he realised he _had_ been virtually ignoring her with the exception of when they were piloting. This coupled with the fact she only really had one friend that Shinji knew about only made that worse, "Umm, what do you want me to talk about?" he asked unsurely.

"I don't_ know_," she snapped back, "just talk to me about something like you do with Ayanami; _confide_ _in me_. I _do_ have ears you know."

"Okay, but I'm really not sure what to-"

"Just talk to me…" she repeated in a whisper, her eyes closed, and Shinji could tell her resolve was weakening.

'Confide in her?' Shinji asked himself, 'About what? There's nothing I can think of that's not classified way beyond her level that I can-' Shinji's thought process was rudely interrupted by a familiar

**Thump! Thump! Thump! **

Asuka winced in sympathy opening her eyes to look at Shinji, whose concern for her had switched to exasperated rage, "You want a depressed, moaning and frustrated Shinji to talk to?" he asked, standing up heading out the room, "Give me half an hour…"

Asuka's eyes followed Shinji towards the door as he slipped his shoes on and headed to the doorway, looking back once more, "In fact, I've got just the subject!" he called back, opening the door to reveal a trio of black-suited men, "_Patricide_: the underrated pastime!"

-Z-

The door closed behind Shinji, his shoulders sagging as he looked up to regard his usual three-man escort, "Chief Hideki, Mister Kaido, Mister Sainoji…" he said, nodding to each in turn, pausing to realise how sad it was that he'd taken the time to memorise the name of his usual trio of hired goons.

"Mister Ikari…" Hideki, the Eurasian man with the blonde hair replied, nodding respectively.

"Just Shinji will do…" he sighed in response, "Well, come on, let's get the usual stuff out the way first," he said, beckoning for Hideki to proceed.

He smiled weakly, "Commander Ikari requests the pleasure of your attendance."

Shinji sighed, walking along with the man, "At least you tried to make it sound nice this time. Well, come on. Let's go see what the old man wants this time. Probably something pointless and overcomplicated; Oh, I dunno, that man…he'd get dizzy if he tried to walk in a straight line." The man chuckled as they boarded the elevator, "By the way, do you guys have a union?"

-Z-

From his vantage point on a nearby building, Gohan; dressed in the traditional green and black attire of the great Saiyaman (complete with sunglasses and bandanna), had taken sentinel over the Third Child.

He a distinctly _bad_ feeling about what was on the horizon…

-Z-

_To be continued…_

-XA-

[A/N] And that's chapter 13, special guest starring Yui Ikari as the voice of Evangelion Unit-01. I hope you enjoyed this instalment; next one might take about the same length of time unfortunately. We'll just have to see how it pans out. Anyways, liked it, disliked it, any particular opinions you feel need to be raised, let me know. Until next time, when we plunge right into:

Chapter 15: Light and Dark


	15. Chapter 15: Light and Dark

[A/N] Well, now we really get to move into the swing of things. With the exception of which Angels come, things do start to break away around this point. And thanks for all your votes, your choice has been made. For fans of longer chapters, you'll be glad to know they do start getting more word-heavy from here on, so you'll be getting this fic in much larger bites, if with somewhat longer gaps between. Regardless, I've wasted enough of your time with my ramblings. Game on, shall we?

**Chapter 15: Light and Dark**

Shinji raised an eyebrow as he took up his usual position in front of his father, arms folded tiredly in front of him, "You know, this is not the way for a healthy father/son relationship to progress." Shinji sighed, his eyes flicking to the usual tribunal of his father, Sub-commander Fuyutski and Ritsuko Akagi. Needless to say, the pilot was feeling somewhat bored and more than a little exasperated.

"I'm _glad_ you find the situation so amusing," began Gendo in a most un-glad voice, "unfortunately, parental bonding is not what I had in mind when asking you be brought here."

Shinji heaved another tired sigh, "Unit-01 again?"

"Excellent guess… "Stated Gendo, tilting his head slightly.

"Okay," exhaled Shinji, "So what is it I'm _supposed_ to have done this time?"

"First of all," spat Gendo, his voice suddenly becoming icy, "you may _dispense_ with this arrogant pretense you seem to have taken upon yourself to put up lately, Third Child. I have been patient with you thus far, but my patience are wearing thin. You will divulge _precisely_ the reasons and details behind your thought pattern anomalies during today's experiment."

Shinji opened his mouth to answer, only to realize he didn't have one. He closed it to think for a second. His brow furrowed into a frown, "The what of my _what_?"

Ritsuko took a step forward, flipping her clipboard open, "During today's experiment we detected an anomaly in your brainwaves. It started just a second before you had your little outburst, the one of which you claimed was nothing. It dropped while you were distracted, but it returned soon after."

Shinji was straining to keep his cool under this particular line of questioning. Even the fact that he could see Gohan just out the corner of his eye, hovering out of sight from of the others, wasn't helping to calm his nerves entirely.

"What kind of anomaly?" Shinji inquired, curious to see if his worry was even warranted.

"We detected what, from first glance, appeared to be a second thought pattern imposing itself with your own. We refer to this kind of interaction as mental contamination and it can be extremely dangerous, hence our investigation. What we _did_ realise however, was that the contamination _wasn't _coming from either you or any system instability. It was coming from the EVA itself." Ritsuko paused to allow the information to sink in before hitting in another metaphoric nail, "And, Shinji…we also noticed _your_ higher level brainwaves responding to it in kind. We detected high levels of activity, in particular from the speech centers of your brain.

Shinji…we're not trying to accuse you of anything, but it would simply be _impossible_ for you to have noticed nothing."

Shinji took a moment to mentally congratulate the doctor, she really had prepared in advance, and now he was stumped. He sure as heck couldn't think of a way to get out of this one without moving. And if he couldn't get out of it by lying outright, then he'd just have to give them an answer they'd like to hear, an answer than pleasantly fit the facts, "You're right, Doctor Akagi, I did notice something."

"Describe it," cut in Gendo quickly.

Shinji put on a mask that made it look as though he were thinking up the most accurate answer (as opposed to stalling to make one up), "It was strange," he began, voice distant, "At first I could've _sworn_ I heard a voice; a voice inside my head. That's what worked me up so much."

"A voice?" asked Ritsuko, "What did it say?"

Shinji frowned in thought, shaking his head, "I...I'm not sure. It sounded…quiet… _soft._ I could have sworn it was female." He paused, allowing his eyes to narrow, looking distant, "There was something _familiar_ about it; like a voice you know better than any other, a voice you feel like you've heard a million times before but…I don't remember where I last heard it. I tried calling back out during the experiment, and it felt like there was some kind of response, but I couldn't make it out. I just assumed I was hearing or imagining things. But I can't shake that familiar feeling, it was like hearing a voice you should know and feel stupid for not recognizing it."

Shinji observed the trio's reaction carefully. The sub-commander wasn't subtle in the way he turned to look at Gendo, who more subtly looked back at almost the same time. "And then…?" prompted Gendo, a subtle note of urgency in his voice.

'_I__nterested _are you, father?' Shinji contemplated, outwardly just shrugging, "_Nothing," _he replied, chuckling nervously, "I guess I scared it off. But afterwards, all I felt was this strange… _warmth_, playing on the edge of my mind. Even that felt familiar, but I _can't _put my finger on it."

"Is that all?" Gendo inquired.

Shinji's eyes were still narrowed almost to slits in thought. His reply was little more than a silent nod.

Gendo adjusted himself in his seat, "Very well. You are to give this matter no more thought, pilot, and you are also ordered to discuss it with no one, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir" said Shinji with a nod.

"You are dismissed."

Shinji inclined his head in reply before turning and departing his father's office, deep in thought

'N_o_, you don't want to go too deep into details, do you, father? But I knew even if I was vague, _any_ answer would have been enough…just as long as it could possibly involve _her._

Note to self: inspiring wishful thinking makes deception child's play.'

Walking past a window overlooking the darkened geo-front, Shinji passed an appreciative glance at the barely visible form hovering in the shadows, who raised a hand in salute, turned about in the air, and flew off homeward…

-Z-

Slumping back against the elevator wall as he usually did, Shinji hit the button for the exit level and allowed his thoughts to solidify. He felt a smile tug at his lips.

'I am getting far too good at this,' abruptly, that smirk melted as quickly as it came, 'and that really disturbs me for some reason…'

He folded his arms, frowning, 'I'm starting to push my luck' he thought to himself, 'Father almost had me there. If it hadn't been about mom then I would've really been in deep, and I probably would've needed Gohan's help... far earlier than I would have liked it.'

With a tired sigh, Shinji did his best to put the thoughts out of his head, focusing only on the click-click sound of the floor indicator, letting it lull his mind like a hypnotic metronome.

-Z-

"What do you think, sir?" asked Ritsuko of Gendo, who hadn't moved or said a word since Shinji had left.

"It appears Unit-01 is becoming unpredictable," added Fuyutski.

"It is still within acceptable parameters," said Gendo finally, "whether or not this anomaly is merely a side effect of the pilot's increased synchronization will still need to be researched. Until then, all operations will proceed as planned."

"Aren't you going to report this to the committee?" asked Fuyutski with caution, "I doubt _they _would take the situation as lightly as you are, Ikari."

"Of course they wouldn't," replied Gendo with what for him bordered on humor, "after all, it hasn't been scheduled, has it?"

Fuyutski chuckled, "yes, it would get the old men in a bit of a frazzle, wouldn't it?"

"Your orders, sir?" asked Ritsuko.

"I want a complete diagnostic on the interface system between the testing plugsand Unit-01. I also want a full data check done on the core. For all we know this could merely be a lingering after-effect of the damage incurred to the cranial area during the battle with the Saiyans," said Gendo.

"You mean like an epileptic episode after a stroke," hypothesized Fuyutski, nodding.

"I _suppose_ that's possible," Ritsuko stated in thought.

"That will be all, doctor," stated Gendo.

"Y-yes, sir," Ritsuko said, knowing the commander had dismissed her with his usual eloquence.

Fuyutski waited for the doors to close behind the blonde doctor, "Well, Ikari?" he asked once silence had completely descended again.

"I am unsure..." trailed off the commander, his tone more thoughtful now, "We have predicted Unit-01's awakening at some point in _our_ scenario, however it should not have been expected until at least the emergence of the thirteenth or fourteenth angel. Events are progressing far quicker than we could have anticipated."

"And what do you think of what Shinji said?"

"Indeed, his words did imply the incident may have some relation to…" Gendo paused, as if cutting himself off.

"…To Yui?" finished Fuyutski, who took the superior officer's silence as confirmation.

"Shinji, that is...the Third Child," said Gendo suddenly, causing Fuyutski to blink and turn his head to regard the commander.

"What about him?"

"What was your opinion of his responses?" asked Gendo, eyes still regarding the doors of his office far ahead.

The sub-commander shrugged, "Irritated to begin with, but when that wore off, he seemed quite-"

"-_compliant,_" Cut in Gendo.

"You suspect _Shinji_ of something?" asked the old scientist with disbelief.

There was silence for a moment, "Do you think the Third Child could be hiding something from us?"

An image of the Third and First Child locked in an embrace flashed through the sub-commanders head. He shook it to clear the traitorous picture away, "It's _Shinji_. His psychological profile doesn't put outbursts past him. And no offense, Ikari, but you have been pushing his patience quite hard lately."

Gendo tried not to grumble in response, realizing there was some truth to what Fuyutski said. He realized that if he wanted to keep his son reined in and not stretch that compliance till it snaps, then he would have to begin taking a lighter hand with the boy.

Still, there was something about his son that was nagging at the commander. Instinct told him that there was far more to his son behind those layers of ignorance and irritability.

It was an almost bitter irony that Misato Katsuragi, a person who had known the boy a scant few months, had come leagues closer to suspecting the truth about Shinji than his own father.

-Z-

"So what did Commander Ikari want this time?" asked Asuka, who was currently laying on her chest in front of the TV, as Shinji walked in and slumped down tiredly onto the couch. The redhead rolled quickly over, resting her hands behind her head to regard the boy, "In _fact_," she began, "what is it he _keeps_ wanting?"

"Aww," Shinji groaned, waving it off, "it's just that Unit-01's been acting a little weird lately. It seems my father likes to be kept _personally_ informed of all the facts, no matter how inconvenient it may be. And he, for some reason, thinks that I of all people have all these facts to give him."

Asuka scoffed, "Yeah, because they tell us so much at NERV. But what do you mean by weird? It worked fine in the last battle, right? Is there something wrong with it?"

Shinji sighed, "I guess when we lesser beings aren't gifted with such a _perfect_ EVA as yours. Things are bound to go a bit haywire."

Asuka smirked, "Well of _course_, my Unit-02 is the production model. Your EVA's just plain…_weird. _Like it's running on beta software or something."

"Weird…" mused Shinji out loud, inclining his head acceptingly a second later, "Asuka, I wholeheartedly and utterly agree with you on that one."

"I wonder what makes them go berserk in the first place," wondered the Second Child, rolling back over again, "You'd think when they designed the giant, super-powerful fighting machines that they would've been able to iron out bugs like that."

"I doubt it's either simple or a bug, strictly speaking. I guess it's just the way an EVA works," theorized Shinji as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.

"_Yours, _maybe, but my Unit-02 would never do a thing like that."

Shinji's eyes narrowed as he frowned, 'theoretically, Asuka' he mulled silently to himself, 'I'm afraid it would.'

"So what was it that your purple psychopath of an EVA did anyways?"

Shinji shrugged, "It just reactivated itself once for a few seconds in the cage right next to me, that's all…"

"Oh _sure, "_ said Asuka, glancing back over her shoulder at Shinji, "Your EVA almost goes berserk In your face and you say 'that's all'."

"Its eyes just glowed for a few seconds, that's all," said Shinji, trying to move past the subject as quickly as possible.

"_Still…" _began Asuka, "your EVA may have had its run of luck in the past, but it's just too unstable for my liking."

"It's not unstable," replied Shinji a little more surely than he intended, finding the comment insulting for reasons he couldn't comprehend.

"Yeah, _right_…"

"It's protective," Shinji added quietly, being careful how he phrased it.

Asuka looked back at him once more in bewilderment, "_Protective? _What do you mean by that?"

"Think about it , Asuka," said Shinji, realizing it couldn't hurt if Asuka came to some correct conclusions by herself, "You know about the times my Unit has activated itself without power, right?"

"Yeah I guess this would mean…umm… three times, yeah?"

"Right…" replied Shinji, "And they were?"

Asuka's eyes narrowed in thought. Strictly speaking she shouldn't even know, but it was difficult to keep things hidden back in the German base, "The first was when you just arrived. It was in the cage.. The second was in the first fight against the Angels, and the third was this one."

Shinji chose to elaborate, "The first one: it's hand swung round and blocked a couple of tonnes of falling debris from crushing both me and Rei to death. The second was my first fight: I was completely helpless, virtually beaten, then it was as if, I don't know, the EVA took over for me."

"What?" asked Asuka, skepticism in her voice, "Are you saying the EVA's have _minds?_"

"Doesn't it ever seem that way to you? Don't you ever feel that there's something _more_ surrounding you when you sync, something protective…_caring__?_"

Asuka's went silent, seeming to think on it for a moment, "I guess, yeah. Now that you mention it, I suppose there is _something_ about my EVA when it's activated. Why?"

"_Well, _why don't you just give that little extra _something_ a bit of thought? See if you could even try to isolate it when you sync. It could probably even help you fight better. I've done something similar and it's helped my ratio go up a few points."

Asuka shrugged, humming in thought, "Why not, it couldn't hurt to try."

"Anyway," began Shinji, shifting onto safer subjects, "Misato's going to be back soon, and it's her turn to cook."

"Yeah," said Asuka, "so you'd best get that started before she gets a chance…"

"Running all the way," said Shinji, pulling himself up and beginning the voluntary chore.

-Z-

And so, once his roommates had finished wolfing down a meal he was quite proud to say he made, Shinji was left in grateful peace and quiet as he washed up afterwards.

'I really should feel a _bit_ used, but it was either that or another bout of food poisoning,' contemplated Shinji as he dried the dishes.

"That was very nice, Shinji," said Misato as she entered the kitchen and swiped a can of beer from the fridge.

"O-Oh, thank you," he stammered, startled by her sudden appearance, "I try my best." He said, smiling his usual weak, and yet somehow sincere smile back before turning back to his task.

"I know you do," said Misato with a smile, deciding to keep her young roommate company, dropping into one of the chairs by the table. "So…" she began, idly flicking her finger over the ring pull of her can until it found anchorage, the can opening with a quiet hiss a second later, "Any plans for the weekend?"

Shinji suddenly tensed up, staring right ahead as he remembered just what his plans were for the next day and, more importantly, just _who_ said plans were with.

Misato noticed the young pilot's reaction, "Well?" she asked, her brow furrowing into a frown.

"Oh, it's n-nothing you need to worry yourself about, Misato," Shinji stammered, keeping his face forward to hide the blush that had formed on his cheeks.

Misato's eyed her charge's back, "Tell me," she said abruptly, her voice suddenly far calmer, and Shinji sensed that his guardian had suddenly switched into command mode again.

"I-I said it's… nothing," said the pilot somewhat lamely.

"I won't ask again you again, Shinji," said the captain, and Shinji could feel the intensity she was putting off from just behind him, "What are you hiding from me?"

'_Shit!'_ Shinji mentally cursed, realizing he'd inadvertently caused his guardian to pick up right where she'd left off.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to the Third Child: a possible exit strategy from the whole situation; one truth to hide a bigger secret.

'Misdirection, be my friend once more…' he pleaded mentally before sighing and letting his shoulders sag visibly. He turned around, "You're right, Misato..." said the pilot, "There is something I've been hiding from you."

Misato sat up straighter in her seat, eyebrows raised, "Really?" she asked, somewhat startled by his forwardness, "What is it?"

Shinji breathed out an exaggerated breath, "I did know about your father from a report I read, but there is another reason I've been acting so shady and suspicious."

"I'm listening, Shinji..." said the captain levelly, her can set aside and fingers laced together on the table.

"I-it's just…t-tomorrow, me and…me and…" he trailed off again, the practiced art of being the shy introvert working brilliantly.

Misato braced herself up with the palms of her hands, scowling slightly, "What? What is it you're being so damn secretive over? I _am_ your guardian, and I like to think of myself as being more than just your friend," she paused, her voice suddenly quietening and slipping away from it's commanding tone, "Please, tell me…" she said. The thought of her charge not even having enough faith to be truthful with her was more than a little painful and indeed stabbed at her slightly.

A pang of guilt went through Shinji; he hated lying to Misato, he hated lying to _anyone_ he cared about. He felt even lower over the fact that he was going to use another person precious to him in order to avoid detection, but when weighing their lives and safety against a grey blotch in his conscience, Shinji knew there was no other option.

The pilot took a deep breath and gripped the bench tightly, pretending to hesitate as he kept his back turned to the captain, pausing to think 'I only hope this works…'

Abruptly, the teen chose to blurt, "Me and Rei are going out together tomorrow…and… we _kinda_ have a thing going on," he stopped to take a breath, "_and_… we like might have, sort of…_kind of_…kissed," he paused to cock his head, "…twice."

Misato's jaw dropped. To say her expression was somewhat dumbfounded and a little stunned would be a gross understatement.

Shinji didn't turn around but kept his eyes fixed to the left, as if afraid Misato would appear at his shoulder. He chewed his lip, waiting for a reply. The lavender-haired woman remained disturbingly silent.

Suddenly, there came a snickering from behind the pilot. Frowning, Shinji turned about to see Misato with a hand over her mouth. She glanced up, and apparently seeing Shinji with one eyebrow cocked up above the other was the trigger she needed to crack up into fits of uncontrollable laughter. She heaved a breath, "Talk about a mood breaker!" She gasped, carrying right on going and laughing all the way until her oxygen was completely depleted, slumping forwards onto the table with her hands holding her hips.

Shinji realized he was scowling at her, 'I suddenly find my earlier guilt has left me. Funny that.'

Shinji gritted his teeth as the captain, low on breath, switched to giggles instead, "Hey! It's not funny!"

Misato raised her head of the table, wiping some tears away with her thumb, "Y-yes it is… S-so, you and Rei, huh?" she said, giggling in between words, "Answer the phone because I called it."

'Oh God, what _have_ I done?' contemplated Shinji dismally. He walked up to the table, "Misato…", said the teen, his voice suddenly taking on a serious tone.

"Yuh-huh?" asked Misato as she pushed herself back upright.

"I told you this as not only my guardian, but my friend."

Misato cocked her head, "What do you mean?"

"If you _are_ my friend, and I really can trust you, then this remains between you and me only. No additions to your reports, no notes added to my psyche profile, nothing."

Misato's expression suddenly shifted and Shinji could see the momentary dilemma. She regarded him seriously, "You understand the situation this puts me in professionally, don't you?"

"I understand the position it puts the Director of Operations for NERV, but what I want to know is what position it puts Misato Katsuragi in. Because, in case you didn't know, she's kind of the boss out of the pair."

Misato smiled weakly, breathing a defeated sigh, "_Alright_…" she exhaled, "I'll keep your little secret safe for now. Though I'd better ask; does anyone else know?"

"_Well," _began Shinji carefully, twiddling his thumbs, "Lieutenant Ibuki _kind of_ knows, I guess. Since she sort of caught us in the act."

Misato's eyes widened, her jaw dropping slightly "in the_ act?" _she echoed with disbelief, "I thought you said you'd only-"

"Not the_ act_, the act," snapped Shinji, blushing furiously.

"Oh…"

"She just kind of caught us…kissing."

Misato blinked, "Well I'm sure if you're creative enough you can think up a decent-"

"-twice." Cut in Shinji.

Misato went silent, "Ah…wait, _twice_? How did she-?"

"Let's just call it immensely bad luck and leave it at that, shall we?" Said Shinji, backing off from the topic.

"I see." Said Misato, "You understand though, Shinji, that if you two aren't _careful_, and by careful I mean careful in that way school should've taught you about by now. Well, normally school or your parents…that is, if your mother wasn't…_y'know_…and your dad wasn't…"

Shinji nodded, "My dad…" he sighed, "But don't worry, we've been taught that stuff already."

Misato breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank god, because I'm telling you, Shinji, I was so not ready to go there."

Shinji chuckled, "I wouldn't worry, I understand the risks. After all, a pregnant pilot could really be a pissing-off factor for my father, I guess," said Shinji, omitting the fact that he already knew Rei was unable to bear children due to her 'special' circumstances.

"You'd guess right," said Misato, "But since you were kind to me back when I needed help without blabbing about it to anyone else afterwards, then I suppose I can keep your little secret from Ritsu and the higher brass."

Shinji exhaled with a smile, "Thanks, Misato. And that includes Asuka, you understand?"

"Well so long as I can tease you about it when she _isn't_ around, then I suppose you have a deal."

Shinji sighed as he rolled his eyes, "Sheesh…_Deal._"

"I'm surprised you had the guts to ask her out," said the captain, smiling wryly, "How manly of you, Shin-chan."

Shinji grumbled something inaudible before speaking, "it was more her Idea than mine for your information."

Misato's jaw dropped, "R-Rei asked _you_ out? By god, this world keeps getting weirder and weirder…"

"H-hey! It's not _that_ weird, Rei _does_ have feelings believe it or not."

"Hmm," hummed Misato, her smile turning cat-like, "defending your girl already, Shinji? I'm very impressed," she teased, tracing her finger round the rim of her can.

Shinji huffed loudly, deciding to end this conversation before it got any worse. But his gratitude and relief over not having to keep that secret overcame him enough to force him to lean in and hug the captain briefly, "Thanks anyway, Misato."

The captain tensed for an instant, melting slowly against him and squeezing him gently back, "Hey, you know you can come to me with anything, Shinji."

Shinji nodded, then blushed as he realized what he was doing, "S-sorry…I'll go now," he said hastily, swinging about and walking out he kitchen.

"I didn't mind," said Misato suddenly, "I don't get hugged very often any more…"

Shinji paused and smiled gently, "And _that_…is a genuine shame," he said, smirking as Misato's jaw dropped before vanishing back to his room.

Misato realized she was blushing slightly. She sighed to herself, 'shame he's not fifteen years older…ten would've done…_five_ at a stretch.' Shaking her head to dispel the thoughts, she headed off to fetch another beverage from the fridge, all the while unaware of the concealed redhead who had been listening in on their conversation with great interest…

-Z-

_The next day…_

"'Based on a true story…'" muttered Shinji as he read out the film poster, very aware of Rei's arm which was currently hooked through his. Shinji himself had donned a pair of blue jeans and dark tee-shirt. Rei on the other hand had ditched her usual attire and chosen to bare a light-blue low-cut shirt that matched her hair and a simple pair of hip-hugger jeans, an ensemble which she had been advised by the store attendant was 'fashionable' at the time.

A grim smile tugged at Shinji's mouth.

"What?" asked Rei curiously.

"Sorry, it's nothing. I just find it ironic that any publicly released movie about the Second Impact could be called a true story."

Rei considered this for a moment, acknowledging the logic, "You wish to see this?"

"Nah, we'd better not. I don't think I could stop myself from laughing at the parts based on blatant lies. The audience might find that weird considering it's a romantic tragedy. Besides, I hear the acting's terrible." Shinji explained, watching as Rei's eyes traced left and right over the film posters.

"And this?" asked Rei, systematically indicating the next poster down.

Needless to say, film criticism wasn't a skill in Rei's repertoire.

Shinji glanced at the single Kanji for the title and pulled the cinema listings program out from his back pocket. He flicked through the glossy pages until he found the synopsis that matched the poster, "Huh, it's a horror…" he began, "'_Feelings:_ An evil clone, genetically engineered by a madman obsessed with bringing his dead wife back to life, seduces men and absorbs their souls in order to trigger the apocalypse'" recited Shinji, frowning at the page, 'Jeez, storylines just get weaker and weaker these days...'

There was a long, uncomfortable pause as Rei stared at the poster, her brow creased into a tiny scowl. Shinji glanced between Rei and the poster, his girlfriend silent for almost a whole minute, "I do not wish to see this movie," she finally said, still regarding the poster as if it had just said something offensive.

Shinji inclined his head at the last film poster, "Okay, then how about this: Just your basic 'odd couple' teen romantic comedy."

Rei leaned in, scrutinizing the poster and considering the options.

The First Child had prepared a recommendation, this first choice had been one based purely on logic. Her logic was based around the fact that the film appeared to contain many examples of human physical intimacy. She had read that films containing such examples are often a wise choice for a romantic encounter such as this. However, Shinji had somewhat staunchly informed her that the film, Nymphomania Asylum 3, was not what she thought it was for reasons her boyfriend appeared too flustered to describe. However the film was also prohibited to them due to their current age. She had wondered why Shinji had not informed her of the legality issue first, as opposed to spending ten minutes attempting to iterate the other reasons.

The second choice, the self-described 'true story', Rei agreed was work-related (and therefore an unwise choice for a date according to her research) She also found the sub-genre of 'romantic tragedy' to be a somewhat off-putting.

The third film had been so annoyingly allegorical that Rei had felt the disturbing urge to exact physical violence against a movie poster.

And so, Rei regarded the poster for the last choice, whose title indicated that it involved pie from the USA and was the nineteenth movie in its series, and decided to accept Shinji's recommendation, "It is acceptable."

Shinji smiled, taking her hand in his, "Alright. Let's go then, shall we?"

Rei nodded once, letting him lead on as she rested her head slightly against his shoulder.

Shinji smiled contently to himself as he paid them both in, 'I guess life really _can_ be worth living after all…' He glanced left at his date as he pocketed the tickets, feeling warmed by the subtle upturn of her lips and the contented look on her features.

-Z-

"What do you mean you _lost them?"_ demanded Ritsuko down the phone to the somewhat flustered section two chief on the other end of the line. Misato sat sipping her coffee, swirling on her chair in Ritsuko's office with detached interest. She watched as Ritsuko listened for a second, "But how can you lose track of the First _and_ Third Children?" Misato sat up, taking an interest, "I could understand if Rei wanted to lose a tail and succeed; she knows all the security details by memory, but how could you lose track of Shinji too?" she waited again, "I don't _care_ if they just seemed to disappear… I don't _care_ if the surveillance camera net it on the fritz, just _find them!_" snapped the doctor, slamming the phone down and taking her glasses off to massage the bridge of her nose.

"Problem, Ritsuko?" asked Misato lightly, swaying in her chair.

The doctor sighed, pausing to polish her glasses with the sleeve of her lab coat, "It seems both Shinji _and_ Rei have given section two the slip.

Apparently, not long after leaving their respective apartments, they both just quote-unquote vanished." Ritsuko let out a disgusted groan, "So much for being best in the security business."

"I'm sure it was just bad luck." Said Misato, leaning back to continue her duty roster for the remainder of the week.

"You seem awfully calm about this, captain," said Ritsuko, regarding Misato cautiously.

"Well, yeah, so what if the kids manage to get out of our line of sight for just one day. Just give them some privacy for once, Ritsuko. You were the one who said that too much involvement in their personal lives could harm their development."

Ritsuko sighed loudly, "At least they've got their cell phones on them. I suppose they'll be alright," conceded the doctor, though she knew commander Ikari would be upset, especially since he'd ordered Shinji to be kept under closer watch from now on.

"Of course they will. You worry even more than I do about such trivial stuff. I mean it's not like Tokyo-3 has much in the way of violent crime or traffic accidents. " Misato said as she marked some random dates off, hiding a smirk that tugged at her lips '_So,_ Shinji, after some privacy, are we? I can't deny… I'm _impressed. _I do wonder how he gave section two the slip though.'

Little did Ritsuko or Misato know, that when your girlfriend knows the security layout and patrols for the whole city, and you've got a friend who knows instant transmission willing to do you a favor, that it's more than easy to give just about anyone the slip.

It also helped that a certain second lieutenant had caused a convenient glitch in all the surveillance cameras covering the routes Shinji would be taking, along with some they wouldn't too, just to throw the agents off the scent.

"He didn't say to _you_ where he was going did he, Misato?" asked Ritsuko.

Misato was suddenly snapped back to reality "W-what? N-no, he said he was going out for the day. He never said where, " said Misato, and _technically_ it was the truth, it wasn't her fault if Ritsuko didn't ask _who _he was with…

"Well don't worry about it, we can still track them wherever they are," said Ritsuko, turning to her laptop.

"What are you doing?"

"Shinji and Rei both carry NERV standard issue smartphones. We can use them to track their location. The trackers can be remotely activated even if the phones themselves are switched off."

"Well that's handy, if kind of…creepy."

"Fate of the world, Misato," said Ritsuko, bringing up a window labelled 'Locate your N-Phone', "For that I'm willing to forgive myself the scruple of a minor invasion of privacy."

Misato sighed, just hoping Shinji wouldn't get caught at a bad moment.

Ritsuko selected Shinji and Rei's recorded IMEI's from the list and clicked the 'activate and track' options. Misato frowned as she heard the sound of an error message coming up.

Ritsuko's brow twitched as she regarded the window that popped up.

**GPS up-links currently non-operational.**

**Please contact technical support for further assistance.**

Ritsuko's teeth gritted in her mouth, 'But I _am_ technical support.'

Misato watched as, muttering to herself, Ritsuko leaned over and picked up the phone, "more problems, Ritsu?"

"Don't ask…" she dismissed as she pressed a quick-dial button.

The handset rung and was answered a second later, "Bridge. Moriyama speaking."

"Gohannesburg," said Ritsuko, somewhat irritated by the chirpiness of his answer, that and the fact he answered with his first name.

"Oh. Hello, Doctor Akagi, is there something I can do for you?"

"Would you like to tell me why I currently have no GPS access down here? What's happening with the communications up-links?"

"Oh, that?" he asked, "Well you remember how you asked us to run some diagnostics on the internal communication systems?"

"Yes, but I didn't say anything about the external up-links."

"Well I thought that, since we were doing it anyway, I may as well include a few of the external sub-systems in the process. They may get taken offline for a little while."

The doctor groaned, "_Fine_…how long will they be down?"

Unbeknownst to Ritsuko, Gohan paused to glance at his watch, "Give it about two hours…"

"Two _hours_?"

"Well I could stop it early, but it would mean terminating the entire diagnostic process and starting again. If you give the authorization I'll go ahead and do that right now, but we will lose three hours' worth of work."

Ritsuko just groaned, "Never mind, just forget about it…" she said, dropping the phone back into its cradle and rubbing her brow to stop an oncoming headache.

"Well?" asked Misato.

Ritsuko just shook her head, "Remind me never to encourage initiative in my subordinates again," the doctor slumped back in her seat, "Really…sometimes, I honestly feel like I'm being conspired against."

"Welcome to NERV," said Misato with a grin, "I thought you'd been here before."

-Z-

_A little later on…_

"So you helped out the two little lovebirds too, dad?" asked Gohan from the tree stump he was sitting on in front of his capsule house, which was concealed in a glade in one of the forests near Tokyo-3, hidden from both satellite and other electronic discovery.

"Yeah, I couldn't resist it. It was kind of fun in a way," said Goku with a smile as he lay in the dark grass, absently chewing on a bit of straw.

"A secret couple, eh?" mused Gohan to himself, "Reminds me of Videl and I."

"Miss her?" asked Goku, turning his head to regard his son.

"_Yeah…_ we haven't talked in a little while. It'd have been nice if she could've come, but even if she had been around I doubt if she'd have joined me."

"How come?"

"Mom said she wouldn't have let her," mumbled Gohan, causing Goku to laugh, "said it wasn't proper for a lady and possible future wife to be going off and fighting monsters."

Goku nodded, "That sounds like your mother," he went quiet for a moment, "…How was she?"

Gohan inclined his head, "_Worried. _Especially about Goten. That's why I offered to help get this done ASAP."

"She must be lonely…" said Goku, regret and guilt in his voice.

"Nah, she says that while we're away she's going to stay with Bulma at Capsule corp. I suppose they can keep each other company."

Goku smiled, "That's good," he said, sitting up and crossing his legs, "Anyway, how are things at your new job?"

Gohan let out a pained groan, "Sheesh, talk about your tense work environments. Half the time I don't have a _clue_ what I'm doing; usually I just read things off my screen and hit the occasional button to make it _look_ like I'm actually doing something."

Goku laughed, "And they're _paying_ you?"

Gohan chuckled back, "Yup, paying me handsomely for my brilliant work in causing the eventual downfall of their organization. I must be doing a pretty good job, apparently I scored good points on my initial appraisal."

"Well at least with money we can replenish our food supplies, another _day_ and we would've been completely out," said Goku, not even liking to think about the prospect of having no food.

"So what's living with Vegeta like?" asked Gohan with a smile.

"Vegeta's been…V_egeta._"

"That bad, huh?"

-Z-

It was the usual post-impact summer's day as Rei, Asuka, and Shinji headed on foot into NERV for the usual bout of harmonics tests.

Asuka was walking a few steps behind Rei and Shinji, scrutinizing the pair. She looked down, judging the distance between them. She realized that while the two were attempting to look as platonic as possible, there was a definite closeness; not that they were in each others personal space or anything, but it was just subtly closer than you would be with just a regular friend. 'I must've been _blind_ not to have noticed it before,' cursed Asuka silently to herself, a slight frown etched into her features.

Shinji suddenly glanced slightly back, meeting Asuka's gaze inadvertently and noticing the look on her face, "Is something wrong, Asuka?"

Asuka scoffed at the question in her usual way, "Why would anything be wrong?"

Shinji looked quickly away, "I d-don't know, you've just been a bit quiet around me the past couple of days."

"Oh, really? I wouldn't have noticed," Asuka said plainly with a sigh, folding her arms but keeping her peripheral locked on the boy as he continued walking, 'And when did _you_ become mister intuitive, Third Child?' though Asuka, suppressing a groan.

Shinji shrugged as he walked, "Whatever you say…"

"And what about you?" asked the Second Child suddenly.

Shinji blinked and looked back again, "huh?"

"_Remember_; I said why don't you just call him up and _talk_ to your dad."

Shinji frowned, remembering the conversation he had had with Asuka before leaving the apartment, "Oh yeah… I _did_ think about it when I passed by that phone booth earlier, but I decided against it."

Asuka exhaled a tired sigh, "Jeez, Third child, Nothing's gonna change between you and your father if you keep avoiding each other like the plague."

"I-it's not that Asuka," stammered Shinji, "I just think, given the state of affairs, that it would be best if I left things as they are between me and my father."

"The _state of affairs_?" echoed Asuka dubiously, "Do you have any idea how stupid you sound right now?"

"Hmm…" Shinji hummed, not bothering to reply and keeping any further opinions to himself, unaware of the usually stoic First Child carefully monitoring their conversation out of the corner of her eye.

"You… Did not converse with him?" asked Rei, suddenly speaking up.

Both Shinji and Asuka seemed mildly surprised by Rei's sudden intrusion into the conversation. Shinji speedily overcame the shock as his eyes turned distant "In the end it… would be pointless, Rei… Things with my father are acceptable as they are."

Rei almost looked saddened by the response, but quickly concealed the expression before it could be seen, "…Understood."

Asuka glanced between both again, 'now _that_ was weird…'

"I don't think I'll ever be able to truly comprehend your mind, Third Child… At times you're outgoing, I might go so far as to say brave. and maybe even tolerable, but you're also occasionally dumb and perverted. And then at times you switch to mysteriously introverted and evasive. You freak me out sometimes to be honest."

"Umm…_sorry?_"

"And you apologize _way_ too much, you mindless idiot," she added, allowing the nagging annoyance over what she'd learned about the First and Third child's relationship to leak out for an instant.

Asuka skidded to a sudden halt as Rei abruptly slid round and stopped in front her, the makings of a frown on her face. It was probably the most emotion Asuka had ever seen on the albino girl's face since they had met, "What _now,_ Wondergirl?"

"Shinji is not-" Rei began, but fumbled off with a gasp as Shinji gently cupped her clenched hand and leaned in between the pair.

"Easy there, you two. Can we just please get to headquarters," he said, ushering Rei back forward and walking on, putting himself between the two and killing the conversation.

-Z-

"What now?" sighed Shinji as his access card slid through the reader, the device making no confirmation that his card had been accepted or denied. He slid it back and forth, "Hmm…"

"The system is dead," said Rei, who was regarding the display that normally indicated if the doorway was locked or open. She slid her card back into her bag, "how odd…" she added, turning back to her companions.

"Out of my way," ordered Asuka, non-too gently nudging Rei aside and attempting her own card, again getting the same result.

"Pointless…" Shinji whispered absently as the situation dawned. 'So… Seele has made its introductory move then. Are they trying to tempt us into revealing our hand so early?' thought Shinji, frowning to himself, 'Such a predictable strategy, too predictable. Perhaps they've panicked and noticed their plans are being carried beyond the boundaries of their control.'

Shinji sighed 'Well I guess I'll just have to wait and see just a little bit longer then, wont I.' and, as if to hide his conspiratorial thoughts, Shinji turned and walked to the payphones within the restricted zone, deep in thought…

-Z-

"What do you think it means, Dad?" inquired Trunks, looking up towards his father. The Saiyan prince stood by his son on a rooftop, looking out over the disturbingly silent Tokyo-3. Trunks himself was donned in his usual attire, the only thing different about him was that he had his most prized possession strapped to his back, having been practicing with it earlier. Said possession was a very impressive looking broadsword, which had been gifted to him several months earlier by the legendary hero, Tapion.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed as he looked out over the dead metropolis. As far as cities go, Tokyo-3 itself was normally quite empty, but without the power running the automated systems, a disturbingly gaunt quiet seemed to hang in the air. Vegeta didn't mind silence, far from it, but this was more like a calm before a storm, and it had him on edge, "For one, this wasn't an accident, " said Vegeta, "This was done on purpose, and I'm not entirely sure _why_ yet, but do I have a pretty good idea _who _did it."

"Will it matter to us?"

"No…" said Vegeta, smirking slightly, "_this_ little play was between NERV and Seele. Or should I say… it was a play of Seele's _at_ NERV. It therefore means nothing to us, son. Still…It _is_ interesting is it not, boy? You should learn these things; it is important for a warrior to know at all times what his enemy is thinking."

"If you say so," muttered Trunks, "but what about Shinji and Gohan?"

"Gohan is powerful enough to handle anything this situation brings, and Shinji has proven somewhat resourceful, for a human. I think this situation will be little more than a minor setback for NERV, and nothing for us," said Vegeta, but the nagging feeling remained; the feeling of pieces starting to move on the board. The prince steeled himself, banishing the thoughts, remembering that he was always one step ahead as it was.

"So…" said Trunks, bringing Vegeta's attention back, "You're saying this is just some intelligence gathering thing by those Seele guys?"

Vegeta glanced toward his son, "Yes, son, _something_ like that…"

-Z-

Gohan's thought processes at this time had basically been along the same lines of Shinji and Vegeta. He stood in the silent darkness of the control room in thought, arms folded and a mild frown on his face.

'It's so darn _frustrating_…' thought Gohan, leaning back against a dead console as the other techs furiously worked to reroute power to maintain the Magi system, desperately needing it to assess the extent of the sabotage which had been inflicted.

He watched as two techs walked to the console near him and began mashing in commands while conversing as to why it's a godsend that an Angel hadn't picked that precise moment to attack.

-Z-

Meanwhile, many miles away…

Matariel had just completed emerging from it's chrysalis, deciding this precise moment seemed oddly perfect to attack…

-Z-

Gohan blinked…

The Saiyan mentally groaned, his senses picking up the unmistakable feeling of an Angel reaching full power and beginning its march…

"Matariel, I presume," whispered Gohan as he arched his head upwards in the direction of the slowly closing Angel.

"Moriyama?" said Ritsuko to the black haired tech, who from her perspective seemed to be in the middle of a daydream.

He made no answer.

"Hey, lieutenant Gohannesburg!" snapped Ritsuko, practically in his ear.

Gohan blinked suddenly, shaking his head back to reality, "Wh-What? Oh, Doctor Akagi, sorry. My mind was… somewhere else."

Ritsuko breathed out a defeated sigh, "Well if you'd be so kind as to keep it here for a while, we could really use all the help we can get."

"S-sure, sorry about that, ma'am," said Gohan meekly with a smile, rubbing the back of his head in that same way his father and little brother do.

Ritsuko breathed another tired breath, "Just help Maya double-check the Magi's primary power relays, would you? The _last_ thing I want to see right now is the image of Casper, Balthazar and Melchior blowing a fuse on us."

Gohan nodded, "Right on it, ma'am."

Ritsuko inclined her head back "Good," she then then turned to walk away.

Gohan raised a hand nervously, as if he were back in class, "Umm, ma'am?"

"Yes?" sighed Ritsuko, stopping and turning back.

"Umm, where's Maya?"

Ritsuko rolled her eyes, "Down at area 3a." she said.

Gohan nodded again "Right…"

Ritsuko turned to leave again.

"Umm, ma'am?"

Ritsuko groaned, "_What?_"

"Wh-where's-"

Ritsuko cut him off with a stab of her index finger, indicating the direction he should go. It was lucky she had a constant desire to be different from her mother, else she was sure she'd probably have her hands wrapped round the new lieutenant's throat right there.

The doctor walked back to the main consoles, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she watched the lieutenant hastily retreat, 'That boy…' thought Ritsuko with exasperation, 'you'd think he didn't even work here at all…'

-Z-

"It's a funny looking thing," said Goten as he cruised through the air, looking directly down upon the spider-like ninth Angel as it continued its steady progress towards Tokyo-3. It was notably unhindered due to there being no resistance from NERV or the JSSDF so far.

"Yeah, "said Goku with a smile, flying on his side as he looked down at the Angel, "I can't imagine the trouble this guy has finding fashionable glasses."

"Umm, Dad," began Goten, "shouldn't an EVA or something have come by now? I mean they haven't even tried firing their guns at it yet," said Goten, descending to fly alongside his father.

"Yeah…" said Goku, a frown creasing his brow, "perhaps they just want to let it get closer; let it come to them before attacking," but even as he said these words, the fact that NERV had made no response whatsoever nagged at Goku somewhat.

"You think it's seen us, dad?"

Goku smiled, "With all those eyes, I doubt there's anything it _hasn't _seen."

Goten was slightly suspicious, "Why hasn't it done anything to us then?"

Goku twirled onto his back, flying backwards as he brushed his chin in thought, "Well, either it _can't_; it doesn't _want _to, or perhaps it really hasn't detected us."

"Which do you think it is?"

Goku frowned in thought before answering, "I'm not sure. Perhaps we just aren't a priority until we get in it's way. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Stay sharp either way, Goten."

Goten nodded decisively and went back to concentrating on the flight, "But shouldn't we check to make sure NERV _does _know what's going on?"

Goku seemed to mull on this for a second. Abruptly, he screeched to a halt in the air, folding his arms. He nodded, still in thought, "_Yeah…_ I think you're right." He looked to his son, "Goten, I want you to fly up to the cloud line and keep an eye on it until I get back, got it?"

"Right," replied Goten, flying off a second later to carry on his shadowing of the Angel from increased altitude, out of any comprehensible danger presented by the aggressor.

"Well that's that," murmured Goku to himself as he watched his son level off, continuing onwards.

"Now let's just see if I can find you" continued the Saiyan, raising two fingers to his forehead sending out probes for his son's energy. 'There's Vegeta…Trunks with him.' He thought, pushing further away, 'No, that's the EVAs…ahhh, there you are, Gohan,_'_ he thought, locking onto the barely detectable ki his eldest son was putting off. There was a shimmering in the air as Goku vanished.

-Z-

"Power flow status?" asked Maya said as she entered data into her laptop.

Gohan read off the data from the grey keyboard linked up to the Magi's central workings, "Nominal," adding 'I think!' to himself almost despairingly. He was thankful the darkness was hiding the look of worry on his face.

The female lieutenant brushed some beads of sweat from her cheek. The internal temperature was still rising thanks to the life support systems being without power, "Good… Come on then, Moriyama-kun, let's move onto the next one." She sighed, pulling herself up with a hand from the young Saiyan. Gohan gave a start as he realized Maya was scrutinizing him closely.

"W-What is it?" asked Gohan, unnerved by her closeness.

She shook her head, "No, it's just… you don't seem to be affected by any of this at all," she paused raising a hand to his forehead, confirming his body temperature didn't seem elevated like everyone else, "Jeez, you're not even _sweating_ either. How do you pull that off?"

Gohan backed a couple of quick steps away, "Ahh, umm… I have a good…umm," Gohan fumbled off as he desperately searched for an excuse.

"Good what?" asked Maya, tilting her head.

Gohan opened his mouth to regurgitate a pathetic excuse involving very good antiperspirant. Luckily however, he was saved by the sudden materialization of an awfully familiar orange and blue-clad form between them.

The slight energy rush sent the two startled techs staggering back, Maya collapsing onto her behind.

"G-Goku?" gasped Maya in shock, a hand on her chest. Goku glanced down at her, just noticing her presence.

The Saiyan smiled pleasantly, "Oh. Hello, Maya. What are you doing down there?" he asked, reaching down to help her back up as she fumbled for an answer.

"Y-you really like to make an entrance, don't you," she said, suddenly noticing Goku was glancing around curiously, "Umm, Goku?" She repeated as he continued looking about, "N-not that I'm not happy to see you or anything, but…umm… Just what _are_ you doing in here?"

Goku and Gohan's eyes met and there was a silent exchange between the two. Goku turned to Maya.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Misato or the commanders are would you, Miss Ibuki?"

"S-sure," stammered Maya, pointing a finger up to the main bridge area, "The commander should be at his desk."

"Thanks," said Goku with a nod. He crouched slightly down and then, with no visible effort, leaped directly up the twenty plus meters to the command bridge.

Dr Akagi, who had been looking down upon the Magi, took quick step back as what appeared to be an orange blur shot up just in front of her with a slight whoosh of air.

Gendo pushed himself to his feet as he saw Goku right himself in the air above the command bridge, landing with grace between the three control seats.

Goku glanced left and right, frowning, 'Is it just me, or is it kinda dark in here?'

"Goku," began Gendo, bringing the Saiyan's attention to him, "however _nice_ your unscheduled visit is, this is not the time. We have a… _situation._" The commander emerged from behind his desk, walking down onto the platform above the Saiyan to face him.

"Are…your lights broken? Wait, did you not pay your electricity bill? I did that once, my wife got really mad when the power suddenly-"

"It is of no concern to you," cut in Gendo with his usual level of patience, "Leave immediately."

"Okay," said Goku, turning away and taking a few steps away from the commander, "Good luck with the Angel..."

The murmuring and activity around Goku died a sudden death.

"Good day, Commander," said Goku, raising two fingers up to his forehead as he prepared to leave.

"Wait," said Gendo finally, there was more than a hint of grudgingness in his voice. Goku turned his head back about to look at him questioningly. There was a long silence, as if the commander were loath to even ask, "What Angel?"

Goku pointed upwards and away "You know, the Angel that's heading this way right as we speak; big thing, spiderish, only less legs and more eyes…I think. How many eyes to spiders have?" The sudden series of gasps and worried murmurs had Goku glancing around himself, "You…had no idea, did you?"

The commander did not dignify him with a response.

"Are you certain?" asked Ritsuko.

"Have you _seen it?_" added Fuyutski.

"Sure, followed the thing with Goten for nearly fifteen minutes. He's still following it right now. And unless my son and I imagined the giant spider-monster, then I'm pretty certain, doc."

"Fuyutski…" Gendo said suddenly, re-balancing his glasses on his nose as he turned and headed for the one-man elevator at the rear of the bridge.

"What?"

"Take charge here."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going down to the cage to prepare the EVAs for manual launch. Have every member of off-duty and non-essential staff join me."

"but _Manually…_ is that even possible?" The elder commander asked.

"We have a diesel generator in case of emergencies."

"Well, yes… But _who_ is going to pilot them?"

Gendo paused as he stood before the elevator, "The pilot's _will_ be here…" and, with that odd note of faith, he hit the control panel and descended from view.

Goku glanced around as he felt attention return to him. He smiled sheepishly, "Well, I'll leave you to it then." And so, with a parting wave, the Saiyan vanished from sight, leaving NERV to it's task…

-Z-

Goten came to a halt in the air as his father shimmered into view below.

"Dad!" Goten shouted, getting Goku's attention.

Goku spun up and hovered up aside his son, "Done it. Just as well too. It looks like the NERV guys are having technical problems."

"Will they need our help with this guy?" Goten asked, following on behind his father as he took off in pursuit of Matariel once more.

"Maybe," said the Saiyan, frowning down at the lumbering Angel, "If they can't get their EVA's up and running in time then we're just going to have to beat this one by ourselves."

"How long should we give them?"

"We'll give them until it shows any sign of starting an attack. If NERV isn't ready to defend the people in Tokyo-3, then we will…" said Goku with rarely heard seriousness, descending almost threateningly low over the Angel.

-Z-

"We're getting nowhere fast," moaned Shinji as they walked onwards through the endless streams of service conduits that lead into the geo-front.

Asuka stopped and swung around, "Put a sock in it, Shinji! I'm in charge here, so just shut up and keep on following your leader!"

Then something hit Shinji, "Hang on a minute… Just _how _do you know where we're going anyways?"

Asuka looked momentarily panicked, "Look here, I may not have been here as long as you and the ghost-girl there, but if you have any better ideas then by all means _do_ speak up!"

Shinji didn't move as the others headed onwards, "Rei…"

The young albino girl stopped and turned her head around, Asuka following suit with more than hint of frustration, "Yes?"

"You've been at NERV for years now right?"

Rei nodded once.

"Right, so you know the layout of headquarters then?"

"Or course."

"Hey!" interrupted Asuka suddenly, disliking the concept of having her position usurped, "I already told you that I'm in charge of this operation!"

"Then I propose, _ma'am, _that you allow Rei to be our navigator for the time being. How does that sound?"

Asuka's ego settled slightly as she stared into the Third Child's intense blue eyes, "Alright, Wondergirl!" said Asuka, stabbing a triumphant finger ahead, "lead the way!"

Rei inclined her head as she walked ahead a few steps of Asuka, pausing in thought at the next junction for a moment to review the steps they had already taken. She brought up a mental image of their position, "This way…" she indicated, turning down the slightly slanted corridor.

"_So_…" said Asuka slowly as they walked on through the darkness, regarding Shinji out the corner of her eye.

"Hmm?" mumbled Shinji, keeping his eyes ahead as they traversed the labyrinth.

"You and Wondergirl, huh?"

Any doubts Asuka may have had, or indeed any possible objections the Third Child may have made were prematurely quashed by Rei skidding to a halt in that very instant with a tiny, yet audible intake of breath.

There was also the fact that Shinji had neglected to remember the steel pipe which was in his path, walking square into it with a loud _clank._

Asuka glanced down at the collapsed form of Shinji with a small sneer, '_Well,_ I guess that answers that question.'

"Well… Umm, you see…" stammered Shinji as he pulled himself up, Rei leaning in to examine his forehead.

"Save it, Third Child," spat Asuka as she walked on past him, skidding to a halt behind the motionless first child, "Come on, walk on, _L__overgirl_" she commanded, unaware of the small blush which formed on the pale girl's cheeks at the impromptu nickname. Rei managed to comply a second later, continuing to lead the trio onwards toward NERV central.

-Z-

"It's almost here…" mumbled Gohan under his breath as he mentally tracked Matareal's position by it's very noticeable ki. Outwardly however, he continued running through the checklist for the three EVA's manual launch. He had strongly considered lending his metal to the physical effort needed to get the mecha ready, but he considered the fact that being able to lift an entry plug with just one hand may raise one or two eyebrows.

-Z-

"Here it comes…" stated Trunks as the arachnid-like form of the ninth Angel proceeded to move unhindered through the streets of Tokyo-3 towards its target position.

"It doesn't _seem_ to be armed," said Vegeta as he watched the large form stride through a nearby intersection, both he and his son still standing on the rooftop.

"Why haven't the EVAs fought it yet?" asked Trunks curiously as he glanced around, half-expecting to sight one of the giant mechs emerging from beneath the city.

"They can't!" A voice called out from above as Trunks and Vegeta. The two Saiyans looked upward to see Goku and Goten curve in and land several meters away.

"Kakarot," said Vegeta, turning to face the other Saiyan.

"What do you mean, they can't?" asked Trunks, tilting his head.

"NERV's all broken!" exclaimed Goten, his tone a bit too cheery for this situation.

"Broken?" echoed Trunks.

"Goten, please…" sighed Goku, "what he means is that NERV seems to be having some technical problems. It looked to me like all their electricity was cut. Or something," said Goku, scratching his head in thought, "They did say something about a manual launch of the EVAs, but who knows how long that will take."

"Hmph, it looks like they were _totally_ unprepared for something like this," said Vegeta with his usual humbleness, "how unwise considering they are this world's _only _ line of defense against their enemy."

"So what do we do then, dad?" Trunks asked to his father.

Vegeta said nothing for about ten seconds before Trunks saw the makings of a smirk tug at his mouth.

"Dibs!" shouted Trunks gleefully and, before the prince could move, his son's body erupted with a blaze of blue and shot down in the direction of the Angel.

"Trunks!" shouted Vegeta admonishingly, quickly flying off after his son, "You really need to grow up! Besides, it's my turn!"

"Vegeta, Trunks! Where are you going?" called Goku.

Vegeta glanced back as he flew off, "I'm afraid patience and modesty have never been among my virtues. You should know that by now, Kakarot!"

"Should we go after them, daddy?" asked Goten as his father watched the flying pair with bemusement.

"Hmm, I think we'll watch. But let's try not to get involved. I don't think they'll need our help if they get into trouble." And with that, both Goten and Goku took off in pursuit of the other father-son duo.

-Z-

Matariel walked onwards. The Angel could sense that it was close to its destination. It also knew the Lilim may try and hinder its progress.

It was painfully obvious to the messenger that its brethren had failed to unite with the Father. It could always feel the presence of the Lilim's creations also; those dark shadows of the father. There was also the shadow which was not of the Father, but of something seemingly as magnificent and equally abhorrent: A shadow of Lilith.

The Angel of rain continued its sub-conscious contemplations until it saw the presence of another. It almost surprised the Angel (almost being the operative word, for the Angel was incapable of the emotion, or any other emotion come think of it) that this was its first obstacle since birth.

Matariel didn't quite know what to make of the pair standing in its path. On a basic, superficial level that the Angel paid little heed to, the two appeared to be Lilim, but on every other level it was clear that they were something else. Surely, if Matariel could feel confusion, then it would experience it now. Unfortunately, all Matariel was capable of doing was differentiating between what was of the Father and what was not. This usually only meant of the Father, or of Lilith.

There should not be a third variable.

The Angel could see what thrummed just below their surface though: A blazing core of light that dwarfed even the light of its own soul. The Angel could also feel hostile intent, and the slightly larger of the two was practically oozing the sensation with glee. These were not like the small lilim who had cowered in its path earlier. These were…Eldritch…they were _other_.

Regardless, a threat to the reunion was still a threat. Even if they had not been intending to prevent the Angel in achieving its goal, it could sense the power being given off.

Abominations alien or not, that power had to be destroyed…

-Z-

Vegeta stood in the middle of the street with his arms folded, a small smile on his face as the Angel marched inexorably toward him.

"Trunks," stated Vegeta as his son approached, stopping by his father.

"So, dad, " said Trunks with a grin as he looked to his father, "You're not going to stop me having some fun, are you?"

Vegeta's smirk widened as the Angel halted before them, its body tilting down, and the prince could swear it's eyes were now all regarding him, "You _know_ what your mother would say…"

Trunks put on his best innocent face, "_No_, do you?"

"Should I?" Vegeta scoffed, in turn putting on his best ignorant face.

"Then let's have some fun while we're here, shall we?" said Trunks, laughing slightly as he leaped into his fighting stance. Vegeta did the same.

The holy messenger's legs screeched as they dug into the asphalt. The Angel almost looked like it was squaring back up to them, but the prince quickly dismissed this when he realized the creature was now directly above NERV's main central shaft.

It was precisely where it wanted to be.

Trunks smirked as his body shimmered, erupting with golden light as he transformed into a Super Saiyan, which was really the only way for him to keep up with his father's normal power level, He chuckled darkly, "_Playtime_…"

Vegeta's smirk became feral as his eyes flicked to the blazing child. At the core, his son really was a true Saiyan.

-Z-

Gohan glanced straight upwards, sensing the energy building. His frustration and worry changed to relief as a smile spread across his face, "Trunks and Vegeta, huh? Shame I don't get to see what happens next."

"Umm, Moriyama-kun?" asked Maya uncertainly, confused by the smile on his face, "Are you okay?"

"W-What?" Gohan stammered, snapping free of his revere, "Oh yeah, Sorry. I was just thinking about the Angel…"

"We have some sensors active. It's stopped right above us," said Maya quietly, the worry noticeable in her voice, "I think the EVAs will be ready in time, but we still have no pilots."

"They'll be here. Either way… I don't think that Angel's going to be around for much longer," said Gohan, turning his head to Maya to reveal the small smile gracing his features.

Maya blinked in surprise before returning a smile as she shook her head, "You're so strange, Moriyama."

"How so?" asked Gohan, cocking an eyebrow up as he regarded her, still keeping his mind focused on what was happening above.

"I don't know," said Maya, trailing off for a second, "I can't quite put my finger on it. You're such an ambiguity, but what's _really_ odd is that that weirdness, I don't know, it seems _familiar_ somehow, but I can't quite put my finger on where I've seen it before."

Gohan nodded, keeping his composure as he worried about the direction the conversation was rapidly heading in. Maya chuckled, shaking her head again, "It sounds stupid, I know… But you really do remind me of someone," Gohan was barely containing a small 'eep' noise as he watched the cogs turn in Maya's head.

However, those cogs were suddenly knocked free as Maya was suddenly interrupted by the godsend that was Shinji Ikari erupting from a wall vent and colliding square into the lieutenant, tackling her to the floor.

Gohan bent down quickly to help, only to be caught in the face by the outstretched feet of the Second Child, who slid down the vent chute a second later, knocking the Saiyan flat onto his back.

'Every miracle has its price,' thought Gohan dismally as he pushed himself up.

Rei slid gracefully out of the vent, landing on both feet by the heap of limbs on the floor.

"Ooouch…" Gohan moaned as he pulled himself up and nursed the red mark on his face.

Asuka pulled herself up, cradling her leg, "I think I sprained my damned ankle on that guy's _face."_

"Ma'am!" Shinji said, hastily freeing himself from his impromptu landing pad, in particular the two soft cushions that had protected his head from the impact, "I'm sorry, I… Umm, didn't see you there."

Maya pulled herself up uneasily with a hand from Gohan, "Oooh, that's gonna leave a bruise."

"I'll live…" Asuka said, hobbling on one foot as she brushed herself down.

Gohan scowled at her, "I'm so glad I could help."

"What is it with you pilots and dramatics?" sighed Ritsuko as she looked down at the recovering pilots, hiding her relief at their timely appearance.

Gendo cocked an eyebrow at the somehow comic scene. He dismissed the silliness immediately and got to work, "Prepare for manual launch!"

-Z-

Meanwhile, on the surface…

"Why isn't it doing anything?" asked Trunks with a sneer as the Angel stood motionless, though the young Saiyan got the feeling that the Angel was staring them down, wondering if they would make the first move.

Trunks hated staring contests with things with more eyes than him.

Vegeta scowled, "It can't seem to decide between attacking us or starting its assault against NERV. It appears gracious enough to want us to make the first play."

"Then I don't want to be rude," said Trunks, his aura blazing into life as he charged the enemy. He curved upwards at mach three, inadvertently clipping the Angel's AT field, which sent him spinning out of control into a nearby building.

"Trunks!" shouted Vegeta, "Watch your speed and angle of attack, especially when your opponent is ready for you."

Trunks untangled himself from the remnants of a desk and a shattered window frame. With a growl, he leaped out the torn open gap in the structure, landing spread against an undamaged section of the building, preparing to spring down at the Angel.

Suddenly, and with an almost blinding speed, one of the Angel's deceptively fragile legs flicked out at the young Super Saiyan.

Trunks sprung out of the way as the leg sliced the entire upper corner of the building cleanly off.

The Saiyan brought himself about in the air and swung his arm in an arch at the Angel with a cry. An invisible wave of power struck the Angel's field and, while not enough to penetrate it, the creature found itself skidding back several meters trough the street, it's entrenched limbs tearing up trails of asphalt in the progress.

Trunks twirled thought the air and into a landing, crouched down in the street.

The still raised leg moved at angles which should've been impossible from where Trunks assumed it's joints were, stabbing downwards in an attempt to impale the Super Saiyan, who in turn evaded with an effortless double back-flip.

Vegeta watched as Trunks skidded to a halt nearby, "Need a hand, son?" he asked, smirking slightly.

"Not a chance!" snapped Trunks, who retaliated with a bolt of yellow energy that sent the Angel skidding back even more.

Trunks hovered up into the air, readying another charge, when Vegeta noticed a change in the Angel. It reset itself back on four legs, bracing for something. He watched one of the eyes on its side pulse organically and, to the Saiyan's surprise, rotate all the way around, revealing a red orb on the other side. Two other adjoining eyes did the same, forming a red triangle.

The prince frowned as the orbs began spinning in a circle rapidly and a high pitched whining began to build in the air.

A screeching pulse of sound echoed over Tokyo-3 accompanied by a blinding flash of pink light. Vegeta threw his hands up in front of him on reflex just as the unexpected energy attack struck, a giant pink cross erupting in the ground where he had been standing.

"Dad!" called Trunks, turning back about. He flinched as he sensed something, and barely had a second to dodge as the Angel fired again, just missing him.

Trunks was more concerned about his father, but the worries were soon proved unfounded as the cloud of smoke concealing Vegeta was cast suddenly aside with a swing of Saiyan prince's hand who, despite some minor singing on his gloves, appeared totally unharmed.

Vegeta tilted his head acceptingly, "Huh, not bad… that one almost tingled." Vegeta glanced up, his expression going from smug to panicked, "Trunks, behind!"

The younger Saiyan's eyes widened, barely having a second to draw his sword and block a swing from the Angel's leg.

Vegeta turned his attention back to the Angel as one of the larger eyes on it side clenched and, with a sickening squelch, discharged a huge glob of viscous liquid right at him.

_"Disgusting!"_ spat the prince as he leaped up into the air, the Angel making to attack Trunks again, only to switch its target to the still off-guard Vegeta.

The Saiyan Prince regarded the liquid with distaste as it burned a gaping hole in the road below. Even distracted, Vegeta saw the shadow of the leg in his peripheral vision.

The prince raised his left hand and, without looking, caught the limb in his grasp, "There's something you should know, you mutant bug _freak,_ "said Vegeta, turning to the Angel, which was currently attempting in vain to retrieve its arm, "_Never _dare spit at the prince of all Saiyans! And if you do…make sure you don't let me get my hands on you." Vegeta gripped the limb in his other hand and, with a roar, swung the entire Angel off the ground and slammed it against a nearby building. Carrying on the momentum, he pulled it up into the air, spinning round to build up speed, he flung the creature down and smashed it into the pavement on its back.

The upturned eye on the Angel's underside swelled, releasing a sudden geyser of acid up at the Saiyan prince, "What did I just _tell you_?" roared Vegeta, rearing back and releasing a blue wave of ki down at the oncoming attack, dissolving it in the air and striking the Angel with a huge blast of all-encompassing energy.

The smoke and rubble cleared a moment later to reveal the Angel, now missing the bottom half of two of its legs and sprawled out in a giant crater.

Vegeta snarled at the enemy, "Pathetic…" he spat, "Trunks! Finish off this weakling! I'd do it myself, but without blasting the damned thing and half this city into rubble then I won't be able to do it without getting my boots dirty…and I'd really rather avoid that."

Trunks smirked, "Here comes…"

The Angel managed to flip itself onto it's remaining feet as Trunks swung his sword in for an overhead strike. The Angel fired another blast of energy, but with Trunks prepared and at full power he merely took it head on and kept on moving.

Matariel swung its leg up just as Trunks brought his sword to bear. The gleaming steel clashed with the AT field, and Trunks wasn't sure if it was he or the Angel who was more surprised as the mystically charged blade cleaved straight through the energy barrier as though it weren't there, severing the entire limb in the process.

The Angel skidded on its remaining leg and the stumps of the others. Trunks looked at his sword in wonder, "So… this thing can hurt guys like you too, huh?"

The Angel backed wearily away. Not from Trunks, but from that sword he was holding.

The younger Saiyan's aura erupted in an excited blaze as Trunks charged the Angel, dodging a gob of acid and striking the creature's side with a spinning kick, upending it an landing it flat on its back once more.

Crying out in triumph, Trunks soared up into the air above the Angel and prepared to strike down into the Angel's heart. The remains of the Angel's legs extended almost telescopically to spear the Saiyan.

Trunks moved and dodged, weaving in the air with inhuman reflex and dexterity. And with the limbs surrounding him, Trunks spun himself into a twirl, swinging his sword out into a silver cyclone of slashes, devastating the Angel's limbs.

It rained black shards as the Saiyan burst through the remaining stumps and remains of the Angel's defense. He brought the sword up, gripping the hilt in both hands and with a deafening roar, stabbed down through the Angel's AT field and into the core.

Matariel's entire body convulsed upward just once, that terrible sword piercing it's light and heart like the lance that was key to the Father's power.

And then there was darkness…

Vegeta landed down on top of a nearby mailbox as Trunks pulled his sword free, wiping a sheen of sweat from his brow, "Well... what'd you think of _that one_, dad?"

The wide smirk on Vegeta's face said more than any words could possibly have…

-Z-

Asuka scratched her head as she glanced up the shaft, her fingers idly drumming against the side of her seat, "So… where's the Angel?"

Shinji blew out a breath, shaking his head, "It should be here by now. Maybe… we took a wrong turning somewhere?"

"_Sure…_" groaned Asuka, "Follow Wondergirl, he says. She knows the way round, he says." The second child snorted, "Knows her way around, my ass…"

Shinji just sighed and there was a long period of quiet as they each waited for the other to come up with an idea. "I am not familiar with your posterior, Pilot Sohryu."

There was a long, pained silence as Asuka sank back into her chair in defeat, "I just hope the Angel makes it quick…"

-Z-

_To be continued…_

-XA-

[A/N] And thus ends this chapter for now. Added a few pages to this one, redid most of it, but it was still fun to do. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Anyways, I'm a man of few words tonight, so I'll see you next time in

Chapter 16: Heads up…


	16. Chapter 16: Heads Up

[A/N] Well one chapter every ten days or so isn't a bad rate I suppose. As always, thanks for all your support and kind words, really inspires me to keep moving. I'll endeavour to keep things going at this pace for a while now. Hope you enjoy it.

**Chapter 16: Heads Up**

Shinji walked through the cage containing the three inactive EVA units in quiet contemplation, pondering recent events. He paused by Unit-01, adjusting the neckline of his plugsuit slightly. He turned to regard the EVA, as if it may somehow summon up answers to his thoughts.

'That whole power outage was just to figure out our layout,' thought Shinji with a frown, 'Will that mean they're going to try and take NERV at some point soon?' His fingers drummed on his leg as the next thing on his mind processed, 'And now father and Commander Fuyutski have left for the Antarctic to retrieve the Lance of Longinus from the site of the Katsuragi expedition. That's all I need: _another_ piece on the board to take into account,' Shinji sighed, trying to shift the weight of the world from his shoulders for just a second. About to leave, he paused and looked at Unit-01 sidelong, "I hope you appreciate how easy you've got it in there…"

Shaking his head, Shinji continued on his way to the testing chambers.

-Z-

Gohan was currently enjoying the wonders of NERV's Wednesday dayshift, having been slotted in to cover for the currently ill lieutenant Hyuuga. The Saiyan was busy keeping a stern vigil over NERV's workings.

"Moriyama-kun, wake up!" scolded Maya, elbowing her slumbering co-worker back to consciousness for the umpteenth time.

"Wh-Wha…?" slurred Gohan, wiping the sleep out of his eyes, "Whadisit?" He asked, arching his back and stretching out, yawning deeply.

Maya turned in her chair to face him, crossing her arms with a scowl on her face. She also found the elbow she'd used to rouse her co-worker with to be aching, as it always seemed to after each time she hit him with it, "Really, Moriyama. You've got to start taking things more seriously. After all, it's important work we're doing."

"yuh-huh…" replied Gohan drearily, yawning again "Would you care to remind me what that important work is again?"

"We're sitting and waiting for the Magi to finish its backup storage system tests." she replied, her tone exasperated.

"And how long is _that_ going to take?"

"Well…" she began, hesitating before adding quickly, "About three more hours," she leaned forward, her voice becoming stern "But that's not the point! As NERV officials we need to be on constant alert in case of any attack, system failure, or any other kind of emergency that may come up.

Besides, if one of the higher-ups catches us lulling about we could get in some serious trouble. You see, Moriyama?" Maya's brow twitched as her colleague gave no response, "Umm, Moriyama-kun?" she leaned over his chair to look at him, "Hey, _wake up!_"

Gohan moaned dejectedly as he was summoned back to the waking world, "_Jeez_, Maya…Don't you have anything better to do?" grumbled the Saiyan, pushing himself up and walking off to hunt down a vending machine.

"As a matter of fact…" said Maya in a small voice, looking sheepishly around the now entirely deserted command bridge, "…No," she folded her hands on her lap, her eyes falling as she breathed a depressed sigh.

-Z-

Aoba stared down at the monitor displaying the synchograph readouts for the three pilots, "_Well…" _he began, drawing Dr Akagi's attention, "this is certainly surprising."

"What?" asked the doctor, moving up behind him. Aoba pointed to Asuka's graph, "_My_, she's certainly doing well today, isn't she? Up a whole six points since her last test alone."

"Yeah, first Shinji, now Asuka," said Aoba lightly, missing the look of worry that thought inspired on Ritsuko's face.

Shaking it off, Ritsuko turned back to the graph display, "Speaking of Shinji…how's he doing today?"

Aoba hummed and brought up Shinji's details, "His graph level is now at… exactly _ninety-nine per cent?_" He looked at the readings with both awe and confusion "and it's _exactly _at that level and holding steady, not a single point up or down. It is _literally_ at ninty-nine point zero. The sheer mathematical precision of it… It's almost eerie. It's like someone were physically controlling it."

Ritsuko's brown creased into a frown as she regarded the graph, 'are they _playing_ with us? Taking it right up to the edge and just holding back.'

The doctor moved her eyes to the video feed for the testing plugs. Shinji was wearing that same small smile he always seemed to have on his face when joined with the EVA as of late and, as she turned away, Ritsuko _just _missed the corner of Shinji's mouth twitching up from a serene smile, into a mischievous smirk.

_'Is this enough?' _asked Yui, her voice resonating gently through her son's mind_._

'it's enough to baffle them for just a bit longer,' replied Shinji, their souls being held barely at bay from one another. His eyes narrowed in thought, 'I just realised something…'

_'What is it?'_

Shinji resisted the urge to roll his eyes, 'Don't give me that. You already know.'

_'I know, I can feel it too,' _replied Yui in her soothing way_._

Shinji remained silent as he dwelled on that sudden revelation. He knew now that he could do it, at absolutely any time he wanted; his soul had reached that point of progression, and that if he weren't holding back, it would have already happened: he would've breached the synchograph threshold… and Yui's A.T field, her very soul, would become at one with his.

_'Not yet then? Don't worry; I'll be here if you choose to let me in… If that's what you want,' _said Yui as she embraced her child's essence with her own,cradling it gently as if it were the most delicate and precious thing in all creation.

'Not yet…' Shinji replied softly, '…But soon. There may come a time very soon when you and I will need to work together.'

'_Okay… Then just relax for now, my child'_ she finished in a whisper, Shinji slipping back further into his seat and waiting for the test to end.

-Z-

An hour later, Shinji and Asuka were sharing an elevator back to the surface.

"I'm impressed, Asuka," said Shinji, trying to break the uncomfortable silence, "O-on your sync score that is."

Asuka made no reply, her eyes narrowed in thought.

"umm… Okay" said Shinji uneasily, glancing off to the side as the silence continued.

Several minutes past in almost audible silence, the only sound being the repeated click of the floor indicator.

"What is it?" the auburn haired girl suddenly asked, her voice quiet as she stared ahead

"Wh-what?" Shinji stammered.

"The A.T field," She elaborated, still barely above a whisper, "what is it?"

Shinji turned his head sideways to look as his counterpart. He said nothing…

"Well?" She pushed, her voice not going up a single octave or decibel, which was very odd for the Second Child. Her gaze slowly turned round to meet Shinji's and locked her stare with his.

Shinji's only available reaction was to stagger back a pace against the elevator wall as the redhead turned fully on him.

The Third Child realised he was in yet another situation that would probably end up in him lying to a friend again, the only other option being too dangerous. Though he had to consider the fact that if he did tell Asuka, he might just have another ally on his side; another EVA pilot, one he might be able to actually reveal his secrets to.

It was this tear of indecision which was terrifying him. He actually had to make a decision that could very well affect the Second Child's life forever.

"Strange question," said Shinji dismissively, though the nervous undertone and the long pause made it come across as quite lame, "Why ask me?"

Asuka's eyes narrowed in on him for a few seconds in contemplation, "yes…stupid question…"

Shinji continued watching her even after she had turned back to face forward.

Seconds later, the elevator bell sounded as the elevator stopped to allow boarding. The doors opened to reveal, to Shinji's added discomfort, both Rei Ayanami and Ritsuko Akagi.

Shinji froze as he felt eyes flick to him, suddenly deciding a swift tactical withdrawal would be a wise choice before any more questions were asked of him.

Shinji took a step forwards, standing alongside Asuka as Ritsuko and Rei entered around them. He leaned subtly closer, whispering, "You'll figure it out soon enough, Asuka… just keep pushing. You're heading in the right direction."

Shinji saw Asuka's eyes widen even as he slid a leg out of the elevator just as the doors closed, pulling himself out of the elevator and out of an increasingly uncomfortable situation, leaving a slightly stunned trio of women in his wake. He paused to listen with mild satisfaction as the lift continued its upward journey.

"Now _what_ was that about?" asked Ritsuko with a frown. The doctor glanced about as nobody else spoke. Not shocking that Rei hadn't said a word, but it was the fact that Asuka _still_ had a look of shock on her face. 'What, no smart comment? No low blow insult? I'm starting to think Aoba was right: first Shinji… and now Asuka.'

The bleach-blonde doctor breathed a tired sigh, realising just how badly the pilot's psychological profiles were in need of updating.

-Z-

'I don't think I can keep this up much longer…' thought Shinji somewhat depressingly as he sat solitarily within the great expanse which was the base of Central Dogma's shaft, absently running his fingers through the vast lake of LCL, glad for the rare peace and quiet.

He regarded his orange-tinted reflection in the liquid, 'The walls are closing in on me. It feels as if I'm strangled by my own web of lies and deceit… And the spiders are closing in. I might soon have no choice than to tear free of that web.'

The pilot shook his head, 'Jeez, I need to lighten up a little. If I don't find some way of relieving my stress, I'll probably end up-'

"Zeni for your thoughts…" A calm and familiar voice sounded ahead of the sitting Third Child, interrupting his thoughts and startling him back to reality.

"Wh-What?" the pilot stammered, his eyes meeting the source of the statement, which came in the form of a smiling Goku, who was currently somehow standing afloat on top of the LCL, "Goku…"

"Hey there," said the Saiyan, raising a hand in greeting, "I was just passing through and you seemed a little glum, so I thought I'd drop in and see what's up."

Shinji cocked an eyebrow, "just passing through?" he echoed somewhat dryly, wondering how a) The Saiyan could've known he was feeling down, and b) how one could possibly be just passing through a completely enclosed subterranean cavern.

Goku rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly, "Yeah, you got me; I was just checking up on you."

"How did you know I was here?"

Goku indicated the small bulge in the side of the third child's sock, "You're scouter and its capsule have trackers built in. You know, just in case."

"Oh…" mumbled the Third Child with disinterest, looking back off again into the distance.

Goku frowned, "What's up?" he asked, walking across the surface of the LCL lake and dropping down into a cross-legged position by the pilot.

Shinji let out an exhausted sigh before replying, "I guess the weight of the world is finally starting to slow me down…"

"Yeah, I guess one lie after another really starts to dig you into a hole. But you know… It has to be this way, if only to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed."

"I know…" sighed Shinji, "I guess I just have to lighten up a little," The pilot turned his mind to other matters, "So… you coming tonight?"

The Saiyan smiled widely, "are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss it for the world!" suddenly his face switched into a serious scowl.

"Wh-what is it?" Shinji asked, shuffling away slightly.

"Misato isn't cooking, is she?" asked the warrior.

Shinji barely suppressed a laugh at how seriously the Saiyan posed the query, "No, Goku, I can assure you that Misato is going to be kept well clear from any food preparation, as promised."

"Well, that's a relief," said the Saiyan, his tension melting, "I didn't know what indigestion was until I met Misato. I once caught a heart virus and, given the choice, I'd rather have that again."

"Is Gohan coming?" asked Shinji.

"I _asked_ him, but he reminded me that it would raise too much suspicion. Besides, he's working late tonight and won't be able to make it, his own fault apparently; he fell asleep on duty and the Magi's entire backup system crashed."

This time Shinji couldn't suppress a laugh, "Poor, poor Gohan. What about Vegeta?"

"Well Trunks is coming along, but when I asked Vegeta he just walked off muttering about lesser races and wastes of time."

Shinji nodded, "I'll put him down as a maybe."

"What about her?" Goku asked suddenly.

"Her who?" asked Shinji with a frown.

"You know who I mean…" said Goku, smirking slightly.

Shinji's cheeks heated up noticeably. He mumbled something under his breath, but otherwise made no response.

"_Well_?" prodded Goku, nudging him with his elbow slightly.

"Y-yeah, I asked her…" admitted Shinji, twiddling his thumbs slightly, "she seemed a bit nervous about the idea but she did agree to show up."

"Ayanami, n_ervous_? I guess even she gets shy about certain things."

"What are you talking about?"

Goku smirked again "Well it is her first time over to her boyfriend's house… You know; the place that he lives and _sleeps_ in."

Shinji's eyebrows raised dangerously high in shock, feeling his capillary vessels threatening to explode, several scenarios shooting through his head, "W-What are you implying!"

Goku grinned, "You tell me…"

Shinji tried to get the blood to flow away from his cheeks, stuttering, "I brought her over because she's my girlfriend and I want her to socialise. There is to be no sex involved!"

Goku stood up, stretching his hands above his head. He walked off a few paces, "whatever you say, Shinji…" he said, smirking slightly before raising two fingers to his forehead and disappearing into thin air; happy he had managed to perk up the depressed pilot the best way there was:

The Misato way.

"GYAH!" Shinji groaned, flopping down onto his back, 'Do I just have a sign on my back saying 'tease me''

Forgetting his troubles for a while, the Third child slid briskly to his feet, bag in hand.

A reluctant smile tugged at his lips and, shaking his head, he swung about and headed for the nearby service elevator.

-Z-

Several hours later, the party preparations were almost complete.

"Well, well well, "began Asuka, "So Wondergirl came after all," the Second stepped aside, allowing the girl entry, discovering her to also be in the company of Goku, Goten and Trunks. What startled her the most however, was the presence of a very disgruntled Vegeta, hanging back behind the others.

"Hey, Rei!" chimed Misato as she leaned back in her armchair, beer in hand, "Glad you could join us."

"Yes, ma'am" replied Rei politely, bowing respectfully before walking round and taking a seat to Shinji's right, Toji ever-so-subtly moving out of the way as he saw her scan for a place to sit. The jock had not been informed however of just how far Rei and Shinji had already come in terms of relationship status.

"And congratulations on your promotion, _major,_" said Goku with a smile, also bowing slightly.

"Congratulations, ma'am," echoed Goten, bowing to offer his respect.

Trunks would have bowed also, had he not entered a not-so-friendly staring contest with the Second Child, who had been shooting him daggers ever since she made eye contact.

"Heh, thanks you guys, but it's no big deal though," said Misato, trying to remain modest. She opened her mouth to speak again, but the words died as she spied the final guest, who seemed content to remain standing, "V-Vegeta…"

The Saiyan's eyes flicked to her and there was a brief silence between the two. Vegeta was the first to speak, "Congratulations, "said the prince with grudging respect, "Now where's the food?"

Misato blinked in surprise and smiled weakly. She pointed to the kitchen. The Saiyan immediately turned, heading off in the indicated direction and the promise of snacks.

Misato shook her head and turned her attention to the others. She hid a smirk behind her can as she watched the usually distant First Child ever-so-covertly lean up against the Shinji's side, 'she hides it well, I must say,' contemplated Misato lightly as she watched the occasional passed glace between the two.

-Z-

"Want one?" Misato asked, leaning into the fridge and tossing a Yebisu across to Vegeta, who caught it with his free hand, the other currently filled with various appetizers.

The Saiyan opened it without a word and took a drink as Misato turned and left the kitchen, she stopped by the door "You should…come join the rest of us. It can't be fun being in here by yourself."

Vegeta was prepared to throw out one of his stock phrases he kept for dismissing such foolishness, but he stopped himself, grumbling all the way and pausing only to pile a plate up precariously high with food.

Vegeta was content to remain standing, Trunks sticking by him though (and occasionally just to swipe food from his plate and occasionally glare at Asuka)

Kensuke and Toji were busy whispering to one another mischievously about certain females in the immediate vicinity. Goten was happily conversing with Hikari as she petted Pen-Pen on her lap.

Shinji and Rei, well, they were just sitting in silence, occasionally whispering something to one another, seemingly doing their best to blend into the background, unaware that Goku and Misato were conversing quietly about the couple.

"Hey, Asuka," said Hikari, inadvertently causing Asuka to lose her staring contest with Trunks.

W-what is it?" she replied, sneering as Trunks wandered off grinning.

"Didn't you say another person was coming too?"

Asuka sighed, "Yeah, I invited mister Kaji to come along too, but I'm not sure if he'll turn up," said the Second Child, her voice holding a dreamy quality to it as thoughts about mister five o'clock shadow flooded her hormone filled mind.

Misato gave a disgusted grunt, butting out of her own conversation and into Asuka's; the major had long since tuned her ears to pick up that name in a crowd of gossipers, "I think you'll find _god's gift_ isn't coming."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

Asuka pushed herself up with a dejected grunt, "Oh I'll get it. It makes a change from the usual _damned_ Section 2 agents."

"How can she be sure?" asked Toji, dropping onto the arm of the chair by Shinji.

"Simple," said Shinji, shrugging, "they don't use the doorbell."

"Huh?"

"Never mind…" dismissed Shinji with a tired sigh. Both he and the others in the room turned their heads toward the doorway as a happy squeal resonated from the entryway, a squeal which was the unmistakable property of one Asuka Langley Sohryu.

"Kaji!" Came Asuka's voice, the German girl re-entering a second later clinging lovingly to the side of the man in question, the Second Child's smile dissipating as she spied the form of Dr Akagi alongside him, scowling as her eyes passed from one to the other. She missed Misato's eyes doing the exact same thing.

With a small smile Ritsuko attempted to explain, "Relax, you two, I was on my way home and we just happened to meet along the way."

"A likely story," sneered both Asuka and Misato in chorus.

Kaji abruptly stepped forward, sweeping Misato's hand up to kiss it, "And may I be so humble as to offer my congratulations on your promotion, _Major Katsuragi._"

"yuh-huh," said Misato, swiping the appendage back before Kaji's lips could make contact and beckoning a hand at the room, "Well find a seat if you can and join in the fun."

"Yeah, it's a lot more crowded than I-" Ritsuko's observation died in her throat as she sighted the Saiyan in blue across the room, who seemed far more interested in guarding his plate of food from Trunks than he did the newcomers.

Ritsuko edged over to the major, "_Misato…_" she hissed.

"Hmm?" asked Misato, smiling curiously.

Ritsuko's eyes flicked to the Saiyan and back, "Just what in the heck is _Vegeta_ doing here?" she whispered, taking a hesitant step back as the Saiyan's eyes flicked to her at the sound of his own name.

The Saiyan smiled slightly, looking oddly dangerous armed with nothing more than a piece of cheese on a cocktail stick, "Hello, Doctor," said the prince, "It's nice to see you again. Try the shrimp."

Ritsuko nodded slowly, turning quickly back to Misato, who merely sipped her beer again, "_well_?"

Misato shrugged, her reply echoing inside her can, "I invited him."

Ritsuko's eyes flicked to the Saiyan, who no longer seemed to be paying her any attention and now seemed to be examining a crepe with oddly intense scrutiny, "_why_?"

"I invited Goku and the others. It would've been rude not to ask him too. Besides, water under the bridge and all that."

Ritsuko regarded the Saiyan warily, "If you say so…"

Misato beamed, "That's the spirit!" she chimed, patting the doctor on the back harder than she found comfortable, "We're all friends here. Right, Vegeta?"

The Saiyan turned his head back to look at the doctor, who wasn't comfortable with the direct question to say the least. The warrior seemed about to snarl, but instead he appeared to change his mind at the last second. A too-happy smirk spread across his face. Ritsuko found the sight unsettling, "But of course, major… _Best friends,"_ he said, looking directly at the doctor in the same way a velociraptor might eye a wounded kitten.

"There we are," said Misato, peeling away from the doctor, who sat down on the edge of the sofa, keeping a beady eye on the prince.

"All these people," said Kaji, "just goes to show how much people admire you, Misato dearest."

"Yeah, yeah..." mumbled the major disinterestedly, taking a step away from Kaji.

"Umm, Doctor Akagi?" said Shinji with some uncertainty.

"Yes, Shinji?" asked the doctor, glad for the distraction.

"Is it true; i mean about both my father and commander Fuyutski being away on business?"

"Yes, that's true," replied Ritsuko with a smile, "they've both gone on an expedition to the Antarctic."

"hmph," scoffed Vegeta, "Seems a lot of trouble just to go and pick up a giant toothpick."

Ritsuko paled slightly, "How do you know about that?" she breathed

Vegeta shrugged, dismissing the query, "I know a lot of things…"

"So..." said Shinji, quickly bringing the doctor's attention away, "Does that mean Misato is..." offered Shinji unsurely, looking on as Misato downed her umpteenth beer and crushed the can with her forehead.

"Yes…" sighed the doctor, watching as the major challenged Goku to copy her feat. The Saiyan promptly smashed the can down to razor-like thinness with his head and then proceeded to crunch it around in his fist; compacting it down to the size of a small garden pea. Ritsuko hung her head as Misato broke up into a giggling fit, "...that makes her acting supreme commander. God help us all."

"Whu Whaddya say?" stammered the lavender-haired woman somewhat dizzily, trying to regain focus.

As the evening went on, events progressed calmly, up to the point where Trunks challenged Goku to an arm wrestling match anyway. It started calmly enough…it then got progressively worse. Shinji watched as sparks gathered around their exposed lower arms, Goku powering up to match Trunks' now Super Saiyan power.

With a grunt, Goku snarled out, "Kaioken…times _ten!_"

"kaio-_what?_" began Asuka, but was cut off when a tray of cucumber sandwiches that had been thrown up by the power struck her clean in the face.

It was a valiant effort, but it seemed Super Saiyan trumped Kaioken, as Trunks stole victory by the narrowest of narrow margins.

Vegeta was pleased with the outcome.

"Well Shinji seems happy tonight," observed Ritsuko as she leaned back, sipping her drink while peeling off part of a ham sandwich which had hit her in the face a moment earlier. Misato had been forced to ask Goku not to use the 'fiery red kaio-whatchmacallit-thingy' around unsecured foodstuffs in future. Goku felt he had to agree.

Misato shrugged, her finger idly tracing the rim of her can as she replied, "I guess he's just different in certain kinds of situations, aren't we all?"

Ritsuko hummed in agreement, "Yes, even Rei seems to be comfortable in this situation." She paused, regarding the pair thoughtfully for a second, "Is it just me, or do she and Shinji seem awfully… _close_ tonight?"

Misato glanced over for a second before glancing back, "can't say I've noticed. Just been plain old Rei to me," said the major, quite convincingly.

Ritsuko just sighed, "I guess it's just me…I suppose certain company has just gotten me on edge," said the doctor, regarding Vegeta warily still.

After another hour and a half, Rei's eyes moved to her watch, "I must go now, Major Katsuragi. It is getting late."

Shinji regarded her from the side, trying to hide the disappointment from surfacing in his voice. He didn't really succeed, "Are you sure? I mean… it's not _that_ late."

Misato's left eyebrow raised covertly as she watched the exchange, an idea forming in her somewhat intoxicated mind.

"I must, Shinji. My apologies," replied Rei, and it was actually true; she in fact _did_ have to go. She actually had not even intended to stay as long as she had, and was overdue to take her evening dose of medication as it was.

"All right then, Rei," sighed Shinji, shaking her hand and lingering slightly longer than one normally would, "thanks again for coming."

"ma'am," said Rei, turning also to Misato.

"Bye, Rei," came Goten's chiming voice, waving a hand up.

"Goten-kun," she replied politely, turning and heading for the exit. She stopped and turned round, as if on an afterthought, "and my personal congratulations on your promotion, Major."

Misato couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly, "You know, I'm gonna start charging people every time they say that."

Rei bowed slightly and turned to head out, however she was stopped once more as the tipsy Major's voice followed on behind her.

"Shinnnji," slurred Misato slightly, snickering to herself.

"Y-yes?" stammered the pilot, more than slightly wary of the tone his guardian was using.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" She asked, grinning like a drunken Cheshire Cat.

"What?" he enquired, shifting back in his seat uncomfortably.

"Hmm _you_ have to walk Rei to the train station," said the inebriated officer, barely holding out from laughing.

"W-why!" he stammered, painfully aware of the blush on his cheeks.

"Because she's a guest, and it's only proper," she said, "So walk Rei to the train station."

"It is no problem, ma'am," cut in Rei, "My new residence is within walking distance of here. I do not require journey by train."

"Oh, I see," said Misato, nodding. She immediately turned back to Shinji, "_Shinji_..."

"_What?_" Shinji half-yelped this time.

"Walk Rei home," said Misato, biting her lip to stop herself laughing, "Th-That's an order."

Shinji let out a frustrated groan, "_Fine!_" The third child shouted in reply, sliding to his feet and briskly leaving the room with the somewhat confused First Child.

Of course Shinji knew what his guardian had been doing, he could see it by the glint in her eyes; just giving them a simple excuse to get some time alone together. He was shocked she could hold herself from cracking up as long as she did. He was also relatively sure that he had put up a decent enough façade of reluctance. Indeed, it had taken much restraint for him not to simply bolt for the door the instant Misato made the suggestion.

"You know, Misato," said Ritsuko once Misato had calmed down, the doctor smiling also despite herself, "_technically_ you can't order him to do that, you know."

Misato snickered, "I know that, but he doesn't."

Ritsuko breathed a tired sigh, still somewhat humoured however, "And it's also not your job to be playing matchmaker either, especially between pilots."

Misato cocked her head acceptingly, "Nope, it's not my job, but last I checked it's not exactly against regulations now, is it? Besides, you know I'd never intentionally do something like that don't you, Ritsuko?" said Misato, still grinning. Having some intel her genius-level college buddy was totally oblivious of, intel that was sitting right under her nose, was so delicious to Misato that it bordered on euphoric.

"Then what did you call _that_?" asked Ritsuko, tilting one slender eyebrow up in query.

"Just playing," chimed the major happily, returning to her beer can to bask as the party began to draw to a close...

-Z-

Meanwhile, out in the streets of Tokyo-3…

"Major Katsuragi... I do not understand her orders to you," said Rei, keeping her gaze forward as they walked out under the warm night air of Tokyo-3. They were subtly, yet easily evading any possible section 2 patrols, all the while Rei kept her hand entwined with that of her boyfriend, her head resting neatly into the nape of his neck.

Shinji hummed contently as he thought the best way to answer, his thumb idly stroking over the back of Rei's hand, "She wasn't really _ordering _me, she was just giving us a chance to be alone."

Rei's brow furrowed into a frown, "Yet you seemed...adverse to the idea?"

Shinji laughed softly as he brought an arm up to hug her slightly closer, "Now _there's_ one of the silliest assumptions I've ever heard you make. I guess that was just an instinctive reaction to Misato's tone, plus i thought it best to keep up appearances, if you will."

"I see..." replied Rei slowly after a second's deliberation. The first herself had yet to reveal the nature of her relationship with Shinji to anyone else, if only because no one had actually asked her directly. And therefore she had agreed to Shinji's proposition to keep the secret.

Rei was unsure how she would handle the situation should someone actually query the boyfriend/girlfriend issue directly, especially if that somebody were NERV personnel, nor was she sure why that seemed to pose such a dilemma. For now though, Rei realised, that concern could wait. She was far too busy enjoying the present.

Shinji sighed slightly contentedly in return as they carried on towards Rei's apartment.

There was a long, comfortable silence, "We're taking the long way," asked Shinji, cocking an eyebrow as he glanced sideways, "aren't we?"

"Yes," replied Rei as bluntly and simply as ever, earning another small laugh from the third child, who leaned quickly down and kissed her once on top of the head, both then carrying on in blissful silence, happy enough just to be in one another's company.

Each of the pilots were blissfully unaware of the proceedings taking place far, far away from them or, to be more accurate, far, far _above_ them…

-Z-

On the earth's next rotation, as the sunlight peeked over the curvature of the planet, not only were the people below beginning to stir, but a small, apparently insignificant particle of dust which had been holding its position for years in geostationary orbit felt the light of the dawn of its chosen day. Suddenly, that insignificant particle began to convulse and glow.

And then it began to grow...

-Z-

Two days later...

"This had better be important, major!" snapped Ritsuko as she ran onto the bridge. The doctor had received an emergency message to report to headquarters, interrupting her in the midst of a crucial stage in the extraction of the S2 organ from the Ninth Angels remains.

"Does an _Angel_ classify as important?" retorted Misato as she turned to the main viewer, which currently showed what data they had on the floating form of Sahaquiel.

"When did it appear?" asked Ritsuko, eyeing the angel curiously.

"Just recently. It must've been shrouding itself somehow as it just seemed to appear out of nowhere."

"Have you contacted Commander Ikari?" asked Ritsuko.

"Not possible," cut in Aoba, "the Angel is causing a communications blackout equivalent to a class three solar storm. There's no way we can get word to him with the amount of EM interference that thing is pumping out."

-Z-

From below, at one of the sub-command stations, Gohan stared curiously in thought at the Angelic form, 'Jeez, these things just keep getting weirder and weirder. But just what are dad and Vegeta intending to do?'

-Z-

"So what are you going to do?" asked Goten at almost the same instant his elder brother was having the same thought. The younger Saiyan was sat on the edge of a table, watching as his father walked over to the tall locker in the corner of the room and opened it.

"What do you think?" asked Goku rhetorically as he pulled out the dark yellow capsule corp. Space suit, "I'm going to have a look for myself, of course," and with that he slid into the snug-fitting outfit and pulled the matching helmet into place.

"Yes," said Vegeta, regarding the still image on the wall screen, "NERV's pictures and monitoring of this one aren't exactly first class. We could do with a better look."

"Be right back then," said Goku, his voice distorted by the suit's communicator slightly, before vanishing a second later in the trademark style of his instant transmission technique.

The Saiyan reappeared in the upper atmosphere, deciding against materialising in a vacuum due to the severe pressure change. He looked upward, his body becoming engulfed in his ki as he shot upwards towards the waiting Angel.

"Well? What's it doing, Kakarot?" demanded Vegeta demanded through the comm link. The prince scowled as the reply came as nothing more than a burst of static.

"What's that mean?" asked Goten, tugging worriedly on the cuff of Vegeta's glove, "Why isn't he calling back?"

Vegeta tugged his arm free with a scoff, "Don't be a fool, boy. He simply can't. The Angel's generating interference. It looks like our signals can't cut through any better than NERV's can."

"S-so he hasn't been hurt then?"

Vegeta's eyes flicked to Goten before turning his back on him, "I _doubt _it. His ki is still as annoyingly clear as always." The Saiyan prince's eyes narrowed at the still image, 'Besides… Kakarot better not humiliate me by letting something this pathetic kill him.'

Goten exhaled slightly, "You're right," he chirped happily, "No one in the _world_ can beat my dad after all!" proclaimed the boy proudly, missing Vegeta's shoulders tense as he winced involuntarily.

-Z-

'And again...' thought Goku, watching as the Angel again detached a huge droplet-shaped piece of its body and hurled it down through the atmosphere using the force of it's AT field.

The Saiyan looked backwards in the direction both he and the Angel had come. The trail of impacts in the ocean and the landscape below was visible clearly even from this height.

All the Saiyan needed to do was draw a straight line through the dots on the land below to see exactly where the Angel was heading.

'It's almost like a scaled-up version of the boys' Super Ghost Kamikaze attacks,' mulled Goku, 'I wonder how NERV is going to deal with this one. Short of using the EVAs to catch it with their bare hands, of course...' and thusly Goku began his descent towards the surface, happy that he knew they were capable of handling this Angel should NERV prove unable, and also happy that no right minded person would think up a strategy like playing hot potato with an Angel.

It was just a shame that there were no entirely right-minded people who worked for NERV in the first place...

-Z-

"Are you out of your_ mind_!" snapped Shinji incredulously, cutting in an instant before Asuka could launch into her own tirade.

"It's my decision," said Misato firmly, standing with her back to the pilots as she regarded the monitor.

"Umm, _question_?" inquired Shinji, raising a hand.

"What?" asked Misato, glancing back.

"Well, what about all the residents and everything... I was just wondering."

"Don't worry, Shinji. I've already issued a special D-17 declaration. All unnecessary personnel and civilians have been evacuated to a safe distance," said Misato, her voice still stern but held a reassuring edge.

"So what exactly _are_ our odds of success?" enquired Asuka critically.

"I've got no idea," admitted Misato, "not good, I'll say."

"You call one in ten thousand _not good_?" enquired Shinji bluntly, causing Misato to turn quickly to regard him in surprise. She wasn't aware that she'd told anyone to reveal the actual calculated odds to the pilots.

Shinji smiled and shrugged his shoulders, answering the question he knew was coming, "I read it over someone's shoulder a few minutes ago."

Translation: "Gohan told me"

"Ten thousand to one?" snapped Asuka, "are you trying to tell me that _that's_ the best you could come up with?"

"Hey, at least it's not zero," shrugged Misato, as if it were a consolation, "and we've had worse odds in the past and came out okay."

"It'll be a damn _miracle_ if we can pull this one off," muttered Asuka disgruntledly.

"Miracles aren't things that just _happen_, Asuka," said the major with determination, "they're things that people _make _happen."

Asuka sighed, realising her guardian was set on her course, "So we're going to have to be willing to sacrifice ourselves?"

The major's face softened immediately, "I'm sorry, Asuka. This is the only plan that was viable at such short notice."

"But how can you call something this _crazy_ a plan?"

"I suppose I can't. You can of course refuse to do it if you wish," Misato waited for a pause, getting only silence in reply. She smiled softly, "Well I guess that's an all go then..."

"_Yeah,_" Shinji began, his voice turning suddenly optimistic, "Besides, I think we can pull this off."

Asuka's turned to look at him, "You, _what?_ Would you please tell me what suddenly makes you so sure?"

"I can't..." said Shinji distantly, voice trailing off with a small smile, "It's just a feeling…" he met Misato's look as she smiled with brief appreciation back.

"Well I hope you're right, Third Child."

Misato rested her hands on her hips, getting back to procedure, "Well anyways, the rules state that you're all supposed to write out a will. Have you done that?"

Asuka scoffed openly at the suggestion, "There's no need to. I _don't_ plan on dying any time soon."

"Me neither," agreed Shinji.

"Nor I..." stated Rei in agreement, holding off the part about there being no need to, if only for the sake of her boyfriend's emotive state.

Misato nodded then briefly looked away, "Dibs on their stuff!"

Shinji and Asuka blanched.

Misato chuckled, "Kidding, kidding. I'll tell you what. How's about once we're done here I treat you all to a nice steak dinner, all the trimmings.

"Really? You'd better not forget!" demanded Asuka.

"Sounds good!" agreed Shinji happily.

"Don't worry, you have my word," said Misato, spinning about and leaving the observation deck.

The smiles on the Children's faces immediately melted, "We're about to be blasted into dust and a steak dinner is supposed to impress us?" muttered Shinji, "and I'm not entirely sure she was kidding."

"You get that feeling? And _man_, the second impact generation sure has some lousy standards in terms of incentives," stated Asuka critically.

"Give her a break," admitted Shinji, "it might not mean anything to us, but it means a lot to her I guess."

"I suppose..." sighed Asuka, " Now, let's see…" trailed off the redhead as she whipped out a Tokyo-3 guidebook from her bag, "hmm, Tokyo-3 five star restaurant directory." Asuka glanced up at Rei, "I assume you'll be accompanying your boyfriend out, won't you, First Child?"

Rei looked decidedly torn for a second, "I would like to, but..." She trailed off, eyes falling slightly.

"But, _what_?" demanded Asuka impatiently.

Shinji spoke up, "Rei's, well, a _vegetarian…_"

Asuka frowned for a second at the first and third children. Her shoulders sagged in defeat after a moment, sighing, "Well I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for sticking a wedge in the all-too happy couple, so I guess we'll just have to do something that satisfies all parties involved… especially our insane Operations Director's bank account." Asuka then turned and left with a grin, leaving a pair of confused pilots in her wake

-Z-

"Listen up, you three. Based on our estimations, and due to the angel's ECM jamming, this is the narrowest possible impact zone the Magi could calculate," said Misato as a map with a disturbingly large area flashed up on the main screen.

"Are you kidding?" blurted Asuka, "That's a _huge_ area!"

"It could drop anywhere within that space?" asked Shinji, eying the map area with more than a little concern.

"Unfortunately," began Ritsuko with her usual scientific detachment, "due to the size and strength of the Angel's A.T field, it could completely annihilate NERV headquarters with a near miss."

"Therefore we'll be dispersing the EVAs over these areas to give you the best chance of success," said Misato, clicking a nearby control and causing three differently coloured circles to appear within the operational areas to represent the three EVA's launch positions.

"May I ask what this dispersal is based on?" asked Rei, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Just a guess..." replied Misato.

"A _guess?_" gaped Shinji and Asuka in simultaneous disbelief.

"It's woman's intuition!" replied Misato, as if it were a valid defence.

Asuka scoffed, "_her _woman's intuition maybe..."

Shinji sighed, "She plays the lottery a lot… never wins though."

"Do we have a contingency in place, ma'am?" Rei questioned intuitively.

"Yup," said Misato with a smile, glancing over her shoulder at the map screen. A small blue blip appeared on the display, sitting just at the edge of the operational area, "_H__e's_ already in position."

"_Major!_" snapped Ritsuko as Misato's meaning dawned on her, "Commander Ikari's orders are that-"

Misato kept her smile in place, cutting gently in, "Commander Ikari isn't here, _doctor_. As soon as he gets in contact and objects, I'll be sure to apologise heartily. But don't you think for even a second that I'll allow some vague, nonsensical standing order to endanger the entire-"

"Alright," cut in Ritsuko with a sigh, "You made your point, Misato."

"Excellent," said Misato, smiling widely, "Now let's all get to work…"

-Z-

On a hilltop overlooking the edge of the operations area, Goku stood with his eyes closed as he mentally tracked the Angel's position.

He glanced up, "Almost right above us…"

It was an odd sight to see a scouter over the Saiyan's eye. It wasn't like he had any need for its energy detection abilities, but since short range communications were still working, it allowed him to continually monitor NERV's com-chatter.

Suddenly the device bleeped and three small circles representing the EVAs blinked to life; one to Goku's left, one to the right, and the last dead ahead.

Goku didn't need to read the digital readout to know the three units were rapidly rising to the surface.

The display ceased its fluctuations a second later, revealing three stationary power levels all at around fifty thousand.

The EVAs were ready…

"Okay then," said Goku, smiling slightly "I hope you guys really are confident about pulling this off, " He looked up to the sky once more, his smile fading, "because here it comes..."

_-Z-_

_'It's coming...'_

Shinji's eyes blinked open as his mother's voice sounded through his head. He narrowed his gaze, gripping the control yokes tightly as he gritted his teeth.

_'Relax...'_

'No thanks, I prefer it this way.'

_'I'm not sure I do…' _replied Yui, a rare note of tension in her voice.

"The falling Angel has been sighted!" shouted Misato suddenly over the audio link, "All EVAs get on your marks!

Now remember, we can only give you an estimated trajectory based on visual information. The MAGI will direct you up until ten thousand metres, after that… you're on your own."

'No pressure then...' contemplated Shinji morbidly.

_'No,' _said Yui, '_there isn't...because I can feel it. And you are not on your own.' _

Shinji's eyes narrowed, allowing himself to be aimed a few degrees to the right, 'There...' though Shinji to himself, somehow sensing what his mother could: the subtle resonation in the EVA's AT field thanks to how large and widespread the Angel's was, "…That's it.'

_'That's my boy. Now get ready to run like hell.' _

'I'm ready... are you?'

_'Only if you are, that's how this whole thing works. If not, then the A-10 interface-' _

'-can we _please _save the synchronisation lecture for a less precipitous moment?'

_'I'm a scientist, sue me.'_

"Right!" said Misato, startling Shinji back to reality, "Begin the operation!"

"Here goes…" called Shinji, feeling the familiar shunt of the umbilical cable detaching.

_'Go!'_

"Let's move out!" shouted Shinji, EVA Unit-01 erupting from its cradle and into a dead sprint. The watching Saiyan took up into the air, his eyes followed Unit-01 as it upped and leapt straight over a mountain before landing back into a dash.

'Damn it! Can't we move any faster?' shouted Shinji inside his head.

_'Yes... We can,'_ said Yui, and with that, she allowed her essence flow into her son's as he took over, triggering the EVA to be pushed up and beyond its operational boundaries.

Goku's brow furrowed into a frown, "What's this?" he murmured, sensing a sudden spike in one of the EVA's ki signals, the number representing it on the scouter jumping suddenly from fifty thousand and up to nearly sixty-five.

At the same instant, the countryside from Shinji's perspective became a blur as the Unit accelerated to well beyond supersonic speed.

Jumping clear over an entire town, Shinji dug the EVA's feet into the earth as it landed, skidding to a halt directly under the falling form of the Tenth Angel.

"Spreading AT field!" shouted the Third Child as he unfolded his field with all the power he could muster. The countryside around him was torn up by the invisible cyclonic force as the barrier was spread, the signal on Goku's scouter jumping to nearly seventy-two thousand in the process.

"Got you!" bellowed the pilot as the Angel impacted onto his AT field, doing its best to force the EVA down and hit its target.

"Gnnn! _JEEZ_!" growled Shinji, "Little help here!" roared the pilot as the EVA was forced down onto one knee.

'_Just help me hold on a few seconds longer,' _said Yui urgently, 't_he others are coming.'_

Shinji gritted his teeth under the stress being fed back through the linkup. He mustered what remaining stamina he could to force the angel up. The pilot let out a deep guttural roar, the EVA itself letting out a similar bellow over the countryside as Shinji felt the muscles in his arms strain to the point of tearing.

"Unit-02! Expand your field!" heard Shinji somewhere distant, lost in his world of struggle. He was suddenly aware of Unit-00 as it skidded to a halt by him. He didn't have words to express his relief and gratitude as Rei arrived by his side to help him shoulder the burden.

"I'm already doing it!" shouted Asuka as she arrived from the opposite direction. Shinji felt the Angel give slightly and was able to force it back upwards just enough for the job to get done...

"Do it now!" roared Shinji over the comm system, seeing the split-second opening they had.

Unit-00 flipped up its progressive knife and slashed a gaping hole in the Angel's weakening AT field. It then proceeded to tear a gaping opening with its bare hands, exposing the core within.

"Now die, damn you!" screamed Asuka as she shunted her progressive knife straight into the vulnerable belly of the Angel.

Sparks erupted in protest, but the Second Child kept pushing with all her strength until she was rewarded with a sudden loss of resistance and her knife plunged into the core, killing the messenger instantly. All life faded from the struggling beast and it flopped lifelessly down over the three EVAs.

-Z-

Goku breathed a sigh of relief as he sensed the ki from the angel dissipate into nothingness and, satisfied that the threat was gone, he swung around in mid-air and shot off a split-second ahead of the blast wave from the exploding Angel.

-Z-

"Status?" asked Misato fearfully as the explosion lit up the screen.

"All three EVA's are slightly damaged, but otherwise okay," replied Maya, allowing the major to flop down into a nearby chair as relief overtook her.

-Z-

"Well... They won," said Goku stated as slumped down onto the couch in the capsule house opposite Vegeta.

"So I saw..." remarked the prince, stabbing a thumb over his shoulder at a window through which the mushroom cloud that marked the grave of Sahaquiel could clearly be seen.

"What now?" Goku enquired curiously.

"'What_ now_?'" echoed Vegeta with irritation, "_Now _we wait until the next Angel _chooses _to make its appearance, unless of course we happen to find one before it awakens, but I find that _doubtful._" The prince scowled at the dissipating explosion, annoyed at the tactics this war was forcing him to undertake; if it were his old days, then by now he would've just destroyed the entire planet and took out all the Angels at once. But, he realised, that would be naughty and…somewhat frowned upon.

"Thinking about blowing up the planet again?" asked Goku suddenly, startling Vegeta out of his thoughts.

"Now what are you babbling about?" grumbled the prince in response.

"Well you've been sitting there smirking for the past twenty minutes, and you _only_ do that when you're thinking about mass destruction."

Vegeta's eye twitched as fought to hold onto his sanity. Being weaker than a third class clown was detestable in itself, but being psychoanalyzed by one? Now that was just damn near _intolerable_...

-Z-

Back in headquarters, the three pilots stood on the bridge; two of them clearly emitting an air of smugness that could probably be felt miles away. Even the first child seemed mildly pleased with herself.

"Wireless communications have been restored, we're receiving a transmission from Commander Ikari in Antarctica," announced Aoba's.

"Very well, patch him through," said Misato, taking a steadying breath to brace herself for a chewing out as a screen marked 'sound only' blinked up, "I'm sorry, sir, because of my irresponsibility, EVA Unit-01 has incurred some damage. I take full responsibility for this outcome."

"_No..._" sighed the commander with uncharacteristic acceptance"Defeating the Angels is EVA's purpose. It was indeed fortunate that the amount of damage received was as minimal as it was. You made the correct decision. Excellent work, Major Katsuragi."

Misato was more than a little taken aback, "Th-thank you, Commander."

"And on that note, is the pilot of Unit-01 present?"

"I-I'm here..." Shinji stammered startled by the query.

"I just read the report on the incident; that was excellent work too, Shinji. Well done."

"Th-thanks…" replied the pilot, both shocked and a little buzzed by receiving praise from his father for the first time since…ever.

Then reality kicked in again… and the buzz was gone, extinguished by a small puddle of guilt…

-Z-

"Well it was very nice of you all to be so considerate," said Misato, who was more than a little relieved when Asuka announced her choice for their dinner venue.

Shinji sat down, ordering as if on auto-pilot as his father's words shot through his head over and over. As he sat there, he couldn't help but feel like just a little bit of a Judas.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Misato through a mouthful of food, arching her head sideways slightly to regard the pilot.

"N-nothing, I was just thinking about what my father said..."

"Yeah, praise by the commander. I guess you can't help but have at least a _hint_ of pride over what you did. I mean, you wereincredible out there, you know."

"Yeah, it's just that now..." the pilot trailed off.

"Now, what?" asked Misato.

"I just think things might be a little bit more difficult... That's all."

"What? Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, watching that unwaveringly faraway look in the boy's eyes. It looked like, while Shinji no longer had an Angel trying to crush him under its weight, that he still had something much heavier weighing him down.

"Nothing," said Shinji, smiling dismissively and shaking his head.

Deciding the boy was just tired from the day's events, Misato chose to just leave it at that and let the boy continue his meal in silence for the rest of the evening...

-Z-

_To be continued…_

[A/N] And that's that for now. I hope the wait wasn't too long. The next two chapters…ahhh, the next two chapters…

This should be _fun_.

See you in Chapter 17: Brains Over Brawn


	17. Chapter 17: Brains over Brawn

[A/N] Seems like I got my chapter numbers mixed up and accidentally disclosed the next chapter's title by accident. Though when a chapter centred around an Angel that both Rebuild and the manga considered unimportant enough to omit, you can forgive me if my mind slipped a moment. Regardless of a brief slip, I apologise if this one has taken a while to come out. It was much longer than the last by quite a ratio and that was before the rewrite, so I hope you're not too disappointed. Let's carry on…

**Chapter 17: Brains over Brawn**

Gohan hummed happily as he sat back in Maya's bridge chair, his mood content as he carried on with his task of updating the coding for the Magi's control systems.

The Saiyan would occasionally sip from the coffee mug in his right hand whilst his left glided over the keyboard, tapping keys with insane speed and accuracy.

Having been at NERV for several weeks now, combined with the knowledge and brains he already had, Gohan had allowed himself enough time of study at night to fully come to grips with the specs and theorems on the MAGI system. He had actually managed to reach a point where he could hold his own up and possibly even beyond the rest of them. This was of course when he was actually paying attention –or even caring- what he was doing that is...

It wasn't Gohan's fault that his 'spying' position seemed have far less time dedicated to actual subterfuge and saving the world than it did the mind-numbingly mundane tasks of his NERV duties.

"And... _again,_" sighed Gohan as he sharply pulled his right hand away from the keyboard. Once again the keyboard buffer was full and needed time to empty its contents to the screen; such was the curse of being able to type faster than the hardware could keep up with.

Gohan understood this was a somewhat silly thing to do considering the amount of activity on the bridge at that time due the Magi's check-up. The Saiyan however decided it was an acceptable risk. He just hoped nobody asked him to justify that decision beyond 'god, this is boring!'

Once the system had caught up with him, Gohan began again, this time going noticeably slower as he heard a familiar set of light footsteps approaching him from behind. The unmistakable scent of vanilla and obvious attempt to mask the approach meant it could be only on person.

Without turning round or budging an inch, Gohan paused, "Hello, Maya-sempai," said the Saiyan, hiding a small smile which widened slightly at the groan of defeat from his co-worker, who had once more failed to sneak up on him unawares.

"Please stop calling me that..." said Maya with a sigh as she dropped down into the next chair, a tired smile on her face as she realised she'd lost count of the number of times she'd asked her junior to stop using that honorific.

Gohan smiled, humming in thought, "it's only apt," he said, turning back to his screen and saving the data he'd entered so far, "Here to check on me again?" asked the lieutenant, regarding Maya with a tilted eyebrow.

"After what happened _last_ _time,_" asked Maya, "I'm surprised you still _work _here."

"Jeez, you're still going on about that? I fixed it, didn't I?"

"Yeah," accepted Maya, "but do you want to tell me just _how_ you managed to repair the lost system data all in one night?" she asked, her feet idly playing with her hello kitty bag stored under the console, the matter of the missing petabytes of information suddenly reappearing still confused her.

"Let's just say I'm a good study..." mumbled Gohan offhandedly in response as he double-checked his work.

"And what does that mean?" asked Maya, a somewhat accusing tone in her voice.

"It _means_ I'm a good study," replied Gohan, his tone still level.

"_Oh…"_ mumbled Maya, "Well... there's no need for the mysterious tone then."

"Well I'm not _just_ a good study," admitted Gohan, "Else I'd be a rather boring person to be around, wouldn't I, Sempai?"

"Will you stop- Gyah, _never mind._ Just let me get on with my job," moaned Maya as she leaned over Gohan to examine his monitor.

"Humph, you _started_ it..." mumbled Gohan in response, leaning back to allow Maya access.

"Did _not_," she muttered back as she punched in a command

"Did _too_"

"Did not, not, _huh?_" Maya's fingers froze. She suddenly had to go back a few screens to double check what she was seeing was correct.

"W-What?" stammered Gohan, leaning in to examine his coding, "Did I do something wrong?"

"How are you up to this point _already!_?" whispered Maya with undisguised awe, "The system diagnostic isn't set to begin for another three hours and you're practically _finished _the prep-work." Maya shook her head with disbelief as she glanced over at the flawless coding sequences her junior had been charged with entering. She noticed even the lines he had only been in charge of ensuring had no errors had been rewritten.

"Like I said," began Gohan with a shrug, "good study."

"Hah, _yeah,_" replied Maya incredulously as she stood up, staring down at the young tech as he went back to his coffee.

Maya walked away a few steps, pausing to regard the young man with a degree of amazement that almost bordered on fear, 'Even Sempai couldn't have coded all that in this kind of timescale and she's...the best. I mean, this guy's practically a kid, how can he be working at this level already?'

Maya stifled a gasp as she watched him begin coding. The young man was lounged back in his chair again, paying more attention to his coffee cup as his other hand worked at a pace that matched even Maya's own with two hands working furiously.

"B-but how can you work like this," asked Maya, causing Gohan to stop and look sideways at her, "and still make bumbling screw-ups like you did before?"

Gohan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "To be honest, I work a bit _too_ hard at times. I guess it just wears me out at times," he said, mildly surprised to find that he was actually speaking the truth: exerting the body was one thing, but Gohan always had a habit of pushing himself through his studies just a tad too hard.

He could thank his mother for that one...

Maya smiled acceptingly and admiringly at his answer, "Yeah," she said with a note of sympathy in her voice as she recalled her own college days, which had included more than a few all-nighters, "well don't overdo it, Moriyama. You don't want to go burning yourself out now, do you?"

"Nah, I'll be fine," said Gohan, trying to reassure her that her concern wasn't warranted, "That day… I just had a lot of reading up to do the night before. Being the new guy and all; I gotta be able to hold my own, don't I?"

"Yeah... Well, keep up the good work," said Maya, smiling. However the woman still found it surreal that someone who appeared to be such a klutz at times could be such a closet genius. 'I guess that's how someone so young got into NERV in the first place…' And with that conclusion, the female tech left her junior co-worker to his task and headed back to Casper's main interface to continue her own work.

The second she was out of sight, Gohan's hand immediately picked up speed. Code began flowing across the screen again as fast as the system could print it.

By the time Gohan placed his coffee mug back down, the job was done.

'Hmm, not so tough once I get the hang of it...' thought the Saiyan, "But, _man…_how tedious can you get?' Gohan sat back in his chair, observing as the system confirmed the validity of his work and began compiling the code into active memory, ready for the Magi's self-maintenance to begin.

-Z-

It was half an hour later that boredom and a rumbling stomach finally overcame the young Saiyan. With a groan, he pulled himself up to full height and stretched out his muscles before walking off towards the steel doors in search of sustenance.

"Lieutenant Gohannesburg!" Snapped the unmistakable voice of the head of Section 1 as she went about her pre-check rounds, "Might I _ask_ where you're going?".

Gohan stopped and turned his head round to meet her gaze, "Hmm? Oh me? I got kind of bored just _sitting there,_ so I decided to go off and find a snack. Is there a problem?" enquired Gohan innocently.

"You have work to do!" scolded the Doctor, scowling at the lieutenant.

"Wha-? Oh _that._ No, it's okay. I finished that a while ago," replied the Saiyan dismissively, shrugging his shoulders.

Ritsuko glared at him, "That's impossible."

"You mean those self-diagnostic subroutines for Melchior? Hmm, no, finished that about fifty minutes ago."

Ritsuko turned to Gohan's monitor, her hand stabbing quickly at a series of keys, "You couldn't have already-" she trailed off as she eyed screen, which indeed displayed a message indicating it was ready to enter self-diagnostic mode. "How?" was all she could say after checking the code quickly.

Gohan's quickly thought up a decent excuse, "Well I've kinda been working on it since early this morning, you know, up in my head and stuff."

Ritsuko's eyebrows rose in mild shock as she processed this, "Well then... you know there are still several groups of pre-checks needing done," said Ritsuko, trying to salvage a way to make it seem like the boy was slacking off.

"I know," relied Gohan with a shrug.

Ritsuko frowned, "Then why, may I ask, are you stopping when there is still work to do?"

"Because I finished that work _thirty_ minutes ago…" and with that, Gohan left the room, leaving a somewhat stupefied Ritsuko behind.

"But that's _impossible_," breathed Ritsuko as she regarded the still active screen.

Gohan paused, turning back to look at her, "Really? Just doing my best, ma'am."

"That's…" began Ritsuko, pausing to search for the right words, "Good work, Moriyama. Yes, you can go take a break now." said the Doctor, absorbing the pleasant surprise that the newbie wasn't quite as incompetent as he first appeared to be.

Gohan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Thanks, ma'am," he said and, as he began to walk away he skidded to a halt, "Oh, and…doctor Akagi?"

"Yes?"

"I just thought I'd say," said Gohan with his usual smile "for a scientist, you say things are 'impossible' _way_ too much." And with that, the Saiyan walked off, the doors closing behind him, leaving a now totally stunned Dr Akagi in his wake.

Ritsuko stood there, suddenly unable to stop her mind from clocking how many times she'd declared something as being 'impossible' in the heat of the moment. Her brain came back with a disturbingly high figure, "Damn that boy..." she said, scratching the back of her head and find herself unable however to prevent the reluctant smile from gracing her features.

-Z-

Several hours later, in the cosy walls of the NERV lounge overlooking the geo-front.

"Hey there..." came the voice to Gohan's left, interrupting the Saiyan as he did his best to decapitate half a foot-long subway in one go.

The teen looked up toward the source of the voice, finding it to have come from none other than NERV's one and only triple agent and renowned ladies' man, Ryoji Kaji.

"Hey, what'sh shup?" said Gohan through a mouthful of sandwich.

"You mind?" asked the man politely, indicating the seat opposite. Gohan, busy chewing, nodded his head at the seat. Kaji smiled politely and slid into the seat, setting his can of hot coffee down in front of him.

"I should ask you what's up," said the man, sipping his beverage and relaxing back into the padded seat, "shouldn't you tech boys be all busy about your duties. Thought the Magi was undergoing maintenance."

"Nah, finished them," dismissed Gohan, "I was just taking a break until the tests actually begin. And what about you, Kaji-san?" asked the Saiyan politely.

"You know me, do you?" asked the long-haired man with an air of pleasant surprise.

"Well you _are_ somewhat notorious around here," admitted Gohan somewhat timidly.

Kaji chuckled before sighing slightly, leaning his head to the side somewhat, "You know _t__hat, _coming from another guy, somehow really depresses me."

"Well I'm sure I've seen you before. You don't remember seeing me at all in the past, do you?" offered Gohan, cocking his head slightly, secretly trying to probe if the man really had spotted him when they almost collided in Terminal Dogma.

"Hmm, no, can't say I have," stated Kaji after dwelling on it for a few seconds.

"Well that's a relief..." Gohan inadvertently let slip, not realising it until after he said it.

Kaji's brow twitched into a frown, "Huh? _Meaning_?"

"N-Nothing!" replied Gohan, shaking his hands in front of himself briskly to wave off any further questioning.

"Hmm, _okay then…" _accepted Kaji with a note of dubiousness, "so what's your name, new guy?" Kaji enquired cheerfully.

"The name's Goh-…ahh… _Gohannesburg_, Second lieutenant Moriyama Gohannesburg, pleased to meet you," said Gohan formally, cursing himself for still not being totally into the habit of introducing himself with his fake name.

Kaji inclined his head respectfully as he took another swig of coffee, "Nice to meet you Moriyama," replied Kaji with a smile, returning the formal introduction, "The name's Kaji, Ryoji Kaji, rank...not applicable," he said, giving the last part with a wry grin. "So, what they got _you_ doing then, kid?"

'_Kid?_' grumbled Gohan mentally, 'I may be younger than most of them, but they don't need to keep treating me like an inferior.' Gohan then corrected the sad thought, remembering the fact that he wasn't _really_ an _in_ferior or _su_perior to _anyone_ in NERV, be it in terms of rank or otherwise.

Gohan shook himself out of his thoughts as he realised he'd been scowling somewhat impolitely for the past fifteen seconds, "O-oh, s-sorry, dazed off there for a second. They've just got me as a backup bridge officer and one of Ritsuko's happy little MAGI-serving minions," replied the Saiyan with a dreary tone.

"Don't think too badly about ol' Rit-chan. She's got quite a job to do, you know, but deep down she's a decent person," said Kaji, his tone somewhat melancholic.

"Known her for a while it sounds like," observed Gohan.

"Just old college buddies, we never got too serious," Kaji stated, his tone indicating he was obviously still reminiscing about the good old days.

"And you?" Gohan enquired directly.

"Hmm?" Kaji hummed, turning his head to the 'tech'

"What's our almighty commander got you doing?"

An almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Kaji's mouth for a second as he regarded Gohan directly for an instant, "Let's just say I do a few odd jobs here and there for Commander Ikari."

Gohan cocked his head and leaned back in his seat, "That sounds like the sort of thing I shouldn't be asking questions about. I guess I'll just drop it."

"Ahh," said Kaji, raising an index finger informatively, "never give in to fear while on the quest for truth, else you'll never get yourself anywhere..."

"Interesting philosophy," said Gohan, "Although in this business you might just find it shortening your life expectancy."

"You sound quite sure of yourself for someone who just started here," replied Kaji, observing Gohan carefully.

"Well, being in my position, you find that a lot of data just happens to come past these eyes. It could be data that certain high-level people wouldn't want others to know about, especially mere technicians and odd-job men like you and me."

Kaji smiled as he slid forward into a more normal seating position, resting his head in his hands "Are you trying to say something?"

"I'll say this: not to blow my own horn or anything, but contrary to popular belief, I am _very_ good at what I do."

Kaji's eyes narrowed, a small smile peeking out from the corners of his mouth, "I think I'm going to like you, kid. So just what is it you really do then? Besides being a slave to the system, of course, no pun intended."

Gohan hummed in thought for a second, "Hmm, I'm...A _watcher._"

Kaji's smile stayed fixed in place, "meaning?"

Gohan shrugged, "I watch; look around, take things in… if you follow."

Kaji inclined his head a fraction of an inch, "I do. Though it depends just _whose_ eyes it is you find yourself being."

"My eyes are very much my own, I assure you," said Gohan with slight sternness, causing Kaji's smile to break into a grin.

"I find all that to be very odd for someone who doesn't like to risk asking questions."

"That's just the point: I _don't_ like to. It's just foolish to. But when you _watch_, Mister Kaji, your 'agenda' doesn't have the chance to escape from the confines of your own eyes, no matter _what_ you do."

"Safe..." accepted Kaji with a tilt of his head, "But isn't that a little bit inefficient?"

"Maybe, but it's _my_ philosophy. And besides, why venture outside of the confines of safety... When you know everybody's secrets already?"

Kaji's eyes widened an almost imperceptible amount, a reaction he corrected quickly, "Hmm, what you think is the truth can be very misleading from the actual truth, young lieutenant. I wouldn't go placing any bets unless your tips are nothing less than a sure thing."

"A hint of caution do I detect?" enquired Gohan, "Why you sound as if truth is a _dangerous_ thing."

"The truth, lieutenant, can be the most deadly weapon of them all, especially, as you put it, in our line of work…whatever that may be."

"Is that your philosophy?" enquired Gohan with a raised eyebrow

Kaji made no reply, he merely smiled and took another sip of his coffee.

"What do _you_ think?" enquired the unshaven man after a pause.

"Well I suppo-" Gohan slurred into silence mid-sentence as his brow furrowed into a frown. He glanced off to the side… down out towards the geo-front.

"Problem?" Kaji asked, cocking his head slightly.

"You-You'll have to excuse me, Kaji-san, I just remembered I have something very important to take care of," said Gohan, getting quickly to his feet and turning for the door.

"Sure," said Kaji, "It was nice talking with you, newcomer." And, as Gohan headed for the door, the man added, "we should do this again sometime. Perhaps an…exchange of truths could be arranged."

Gohan stopped, turning round slightly to meet Kaji's gaze, the older man still resting his chin in his palm with a small smile on his face.

The Saiyan was quiet for a second, "Yeah… I think I'd like that. I'll see you later." Kaji tilted his head in reply, calmly going back to his coffee as the lieutenant left.

Gohan knew however, that it was what _hadn't_ been said between them which both had picked up on loud and clear. Kaji now suspected him, but he also knew the feeling was mutual, and that the spy dared not reveal any suspicions he had until he knew just how much the younger man did first.

As Kaji sat at the table, his eyes were drawn down to the coffee cup the officer had been drinking from.

A peripheral glance confirmed that nobody was around as Kaji picked the cup up and examined carefully the smudge around the rim from where the young man's mouth had made contact.

Glancing once more about, Kaji folded his coat on the inside of the cup and, with a grit of his teeth, broke free the section of ceramic he needed, which he then quickly deposited in a plastic bag and slipped into his pocket. The agent then quickly left, pausing only to deposit the remnants of the cup in a waste bin.

Kaji patted his pocket. If he was going to go into a battle of truths and deceptions, then he needed to be armed.

And the first bit of ammunition he needed was to know his enemy.

-Z-

Gohan walked at a brisk pace, weaving around the people in the corridor as they came, the frown from before now etched onto his face as his senses traced the strange ki signal he was picking up or, more to the point, the one he _thought_ he was picking up.

The problem was that, as far as ki signals go, this one registered as barely little more than white noise ringing at the back of his mind.

Skidding to a halt with a slight squeak from his shoes as he reached an intersection, Gohan narrowed his eyes as tried to narrow down his focus. And, after a moment's hesitation, he headed down the left path, deeper and deeper into NERV's depths.

'No it _can't_ be, not _this_ far inside NERV headquarters,' thought the Saiyan as he rounded a corner, the corridor ending abruptly as it opened up to the mega-depth cylindrical drop that was Central Dogma.

Gohan came to a halt at the edge of the precipice, his eyes glancing around the green walls of the shaft, slowly tracing them up and down as his mind attempted to pinpoint where the ki was coming from by using his eyes as a reference, 'Well? _What'_s causing it?' thought the Saiyan with a frustrated scowl, annoyed at having walked all the way down to this section, tracking the signal to what he thought was its origin, only to find…_nothing._

The Saiyan quickly glanced at his watch, realising that it was almost time for the autopilot tests to begin up at the area named after a stream of six DNA nucleotides: The Pribnow Box. He was at least gratified that whatever had lead him here meant that his next port of call wasn't too far away, the Pribnow box itself being only a couple of floors up from his current position.

Gohan frowned, more than slightly disappointed at the outcome.

With a sigh, Gohan glanced at his watch again, noticing that he had _just_ enough time to go check things out up at the bridge… just to make sure, because he had a _bad_ feeling about this, and Gohan knew, that his bad feelings had a _bad habit_ of making themselves a nasty reality...

-Z-

Ritsuko deposited her clipboard on Aoba's station and turned to head off the bridge in the direction of the Pribnow Box, halting as she registered the presence of one of her more frustrating co-workers, who had just entered the bridge and stopped next to her, glancing around and looking more than a little bewildered.

Gohan frowned 'no rushing about; no angel alarms; no overly loud technicians screaming off the contents of their screens.

I suppose it _could_ have just been me,' contemplated the Saiyan through narrowed his eyes, not noticing Ritsuko staring at him.

"Is something wrong, Moriyama?" enquired Ritsuko, startling the younger officer out of his contemplations.

"Wh-What? What were you saying, ma'am?" stammered Gohan, blinking a couple of times to regain focus.

"You're _supposed_ to be down at the Pribnow box by now. Is there a problem?"

Glancing around the vast command area again, giving her only half his attention, Gohan replied somewhat dozily, "You tell me..."

"_What?_" she enquired bluntly, startling Gohan into full attention.

"S-sorry, I was just wondering... Is anything, I dunno, _weird_ going on at all?" enquired the Saiyan, nor really sure how to correctly veil his concern

Ritsuko frowned at the younger man, "_Yes..._" she intoned, leaning closer.

"What, really?" .

"Yes…_You!" _snapped the doctor, causing the young man's shoulders to sag with relief, "Now come on, you _and_ I have work to do. Now come on and stop wasting time already!" she said, walking off in frustration with Gohan's neck lapel gripped firmly in her right hand as she literally dragged the young tech along with her as he stammered off a few weak protests before choosing to silence himself and pick up the pace alongside her.

Aoba watched the pair leave. He shook his head and returned to his own work, "Only he could wind Doctor Akagi up _that_ much…"

With a grin, Hyuuga added, "It takes a special skill alright. That's probably why the commanders haven't fired him over what happened last time."

-Z-

"So what was that all about anyway?" enquired Ritsuko offhandedly as she made some notes on a pad whist the elevator descended towards the Pribnow Box.

Gohan blinked, bringing himself once more back to attention "Hmm, oh it was nothing... It was probably just me. Nothing to worry about, I'm sure."

"Well, okay," said the doctor dubiously, "just make sure you keep your mind on the job during today's experiment. We can't afford any puerile mistakes. You know, in the end it does fall down on my shoulders, Moriyama. Any mistakes and you can guess what the commander would do..."

"Yeah..." said Gohan, "I'm guessing it's something involving the words 'off', 'chew', 'ass' and 'my' but not in that particular order."

Ritsuko chuckled under her breath, "Got it in one lieutenant, got it in one…"

Gohan pushed off from the side of the elevator that he had been leaning against as the bell indicated arrival, the doors trundling open a second later "Well then," he sighed, "Let's get this over with…"

"There's dedication for you…"

-Z-

Shinji rolled his eyes as he stood in the shower area installed before entry to the ultra-clean room ahead containing the entry plugs, "And just _how_ many times does that make it?" he said, groaning as he rubbed the slight stinging in his left eye from the anti-bacterial cleanser, his skin half-raw from the repeated scrubbing and blistering hot water.

Asuka groaned in an identical way to Shinji, "_Seventeen_! And here we are _again_! Butt naked and through the wash cycle seventeen times!" vented the German girl, far more vocal over her annoyance than Shinji. "And _you_ keep your eyes forward, Third Child! One sideward glance and I _swear: _Any _girlfriend_ that you may or may not have won't be having any worries about the possibility of you accidentally getting her pregnant!"

Shinji winced more at the sheer sincerity of the threat as all three pilots stood waiting for orders.

"That's enough, Asuka, " chided Ritsuko, covering the mic and turning to Misato, "_Girlfriend_?" she asked, frowning, "Is there something I should know?" Misato's only reply being was a confused yet convincing shrug of the shoulders followed by a shake of the head, "_Anyway_," she said, turning back to the mic, "I want you to all _stay_ that way as you cross the room and board the entry plugs."

"What?" gasped Asuka, "You can't be serious!"

"Don't _worry_..." sighed Ritsuko, having expected the reaction, "the video recorders have been switched off. We _do_ respect your privacy, you know." She said, reaching over to switch the video monitor from normal recording to spectral viewing, giving only a basic outline of their bodies and multicoloured glow representing each of the three pilots.

"That's beside the point. This is a personal thing," grumbled the redhead in an insecure voice.

"_Asuka..." _intoned Misato over the speaker, "This is an order."

"Oh, _alright,_" grunted the girl in a defeated tone, "but no peeping, okay!"

'Still don't like it...' Gohan thought to himself, ignoring the pilots as he tapped his right index finger off his upper left arm impatiently in the same way he always does when he's on edge.

'It doesn't _feel_ like the others. It's more like its pausing; on the _edge_ of being born. It's just like that Lilith in Terminal Dogma: it's _waiting_ for a something...but _what?_' contemplated Gohan seriously, the look on his face reflecting his thoughts as he worked his control panel before him on autopilot; paying more attention to what his other senses were telling him besides the regular five.

The test continued on with Gohan continuing to monitor the possible angel's status. Within ten minutes he had all but narrowed the position down to being either inside or close to the Pribnow Box_, _dangerously close. It was only Gohan's need to conceal his identity that prevented him alerting the other NERV personnel to his concerns.

Gohan's frustration carried on building as he worked. His ears were only paying heed to essential information and orders whilst he focused the lion share of his attention on monitoring the possible Angel, ignoring completely the idle conversations of his fellow technicians and Misato and Ritsuko's discussion about the MAGI system. His brow twitched as his ears registered the words of a nearby technician, the answers to his questions coming crashing down like a tonne of bricks.

"There's some kind of corrosion," said the tech, "it appears to be in the protein wall above this floor," Gohan's head immediately snapped upwards.

'That's it...' contemplated the Saiyan, barely concealing a snarl, 'but what's it waiting for?'

"A.T field will generate on two..." came the words over the comm. system, again catching Gohan's attention. Horrified realisation crashed down as both he and Iruel felt the A.T Field of Unit-00 spread.

"No..." was all Gohan managed to breathe out as the Angel's almost echoing ki signal suddenly focused into crystal clarity, lighting up his senses like the light of the dawning sun.

It didn't take long for the presence of the newly born Angel of Fear to be felt by everyone else too.

"What's happening?" demanded Ritsuko as claxons began blazing around them.

"There's a contamination alert! In Sigma Unit on the sixth floor!" alerted Maya.

'It's growing...' thought Gohan morbidly as he stared at his screen, "The 87th protein wall is corroding and releasing heat," he announced as he watched the Angel's progress, the real horror of the situation beginning to dawn.

"The corrosion of the protein wall is increasing at an incredible rate; it's spreading everywhere!" shouted Maya as the blue hexagons on her screen indicating clean areas were swept away under a field of red contaminated ones.

"Abort the test!" ordered Ritsuko, "Shut of all flow from the sixth pipe system!"

"Right!" responded Maya, hitting a nearby switch and instantly causing the pipe systems to be sealed.

"Numbers 16, 38 and 39 have been sealed," the tech near Gohan announced.

"Corrosion's still present in 16 through to 42" Gohan announced, 'it's a _virus_...' he realised, 'What can _I_ do against a virus?'

"It's no good, the corrosion is spreading along the walls!" shouted Maya.

"Deploy the polysomes," ordered Ristusko and seconds later hatches in the walls of the Pribnow box opening, releasing an army of armed cleansing drones which immediately began to move into position, "Set the lasers to maximum! Blast _every_ invasive particle!"

"Corrosion has reached 6 through 58; It's _here!_" announced Maya.

'Won't work...' Gohan thought with a rising feeling of helplessness in his gut, sensing the Angel's primary defence in place already.

The silence that descended as they waited for the drones to begin their work was shattered violently by Rei's scream echoing over the comm link.

"Rei!" gasped Ritsuko as she turned to the communications screen. Suddenly the simulation body Rei's plug was in convulsed. With a flail, its hand shot out and smashed against the wall.

"Rei's simulation body, its moving!" announced Maya.

"Impossible!" Ritsuko shouted in shock as she ran over to see for herself, thankfully missing Gohan mumbling 'there's that word again...' under his voice.

"The corrosion's still spreading!" said Maya as the main pipeline began to speedily discolour, the simulation body still moving, "It's getting in through the simulation body's active water system!"

Misato watched in horror as the body's right hand suddenly steadied and lashed out towards the observation window in a far more controlled manner.

Gohan's hand whipped over the control panel and broke the guard on the emergency control and yanked the lever, triggering the explosives in the right arm of the simulation body; severing it mere feet before it impacted the glass.

"How's Rei?" asked Misato.

"She's okay!" replied Maya, shouting over the noise.

"Eject all entry plugs immediately! Fire the lasers!" shouted Ritsuko. Behind her, three jets of water shot out from the backs of the simulation bodies, all three entry plugs being ejected out beyond the Pribnow box, a hermetically sealed guard closing almost instantly behind them.

The lasers immediately began firing at the infected areas. Gohan's fist clenched, his other hand going to bring up the pattern analysis system in advance of what he knew was coming.

The beams were immediately deflected to the sides with the high pitched whine and phase variance symbolic of an A.T field...

"That's an A.T Field!" shouted Misato, regarding the unmistakable shape with horror.

"Pattern analysis confirmed as blue," shouted Gohan over the noise, "It's an Angel!"

Ritsuko's head whipped around as she slid over to glance down at the younger tech's screen, regarding the results with fear. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the nearby phone and connected with the main command bridge and commander Fuyutski.

Gohan (and indeed pretty much everyone else in the box) winced as he heard the sub-commander's overly displeased reaction from the phone's earpiece as Ritsuko made her report, "An _Angel?_" the man barked, "You let an _A__ngel _get inside these facilities!"

"I'm sorry, sir!" replied Ritsuko desperately as Misato reached over and grabbed hold of her arm, dragging her away from the phone and slamming it down for her.

"Evacuate the box!" shouted the Major, releasing the doctor, "Come on, move it!" She and everyone else quickly leapt up and dashed out of the area with the exception of Ritsuko and Gohan, who were still regarding the Angel with morbid curiosity as it's visual pattern glowed and changed even as it crept up the protective glass, which immediately began to crack under the force of its A.T field.

'It's _changing_...' thought Gohan as he and Ritsuko looked on even as it's ki signal began to fluctuate rapidly. "What the HELL are you two _doing?" _demanded Misato, "Move it!" she shouted, grabbing the shoulders of both Ritsuko and Gohan all but hurling them out of the control room with her.

An instant later, the steel containment doors slammed shut, the room's glass shattering and the contaminated water flooding inwards.

-Z-

Gohan skidded round a corner, effortlessly keeping up with the Major and the Doctor. A disembodied voice sounded over the tannoy system, "Isolating Sigma Unit from B floor. All personnel in the vicinity must evacuate!" Came the alert as the area began sealing off behind them, Gohan having to give the two women an unceremonious shove from behind to stop them being caught behind the closing doors, the Saiyan barely diving through and propelling himself back onto his feet. He tugged forwards, tearing free the bottom part of his uniform jacket which had been caught between the closing doors behind him.

Gohan helped an irritated but understandably thankful Misato and Ritsuko to their feet as the rest of the staff stopped to catch their breath.

Gohan scowled with increasing confusion as the alert system for all of HQ seemed to shut itself off. 'Now what is he up to?' thought the Saiyan, knowing there was only one person with the authority to shut off an alert when there was a confirmed Angel detected. He passed a quick glance at the other staff and, once he had confirmed they were still busy amongst themselves, he ducked round a corner and out of sight for a moment…

Reaching into his pocket, Gohan retrieved a small white cell phone which had had its capsule corp. Logo smartly removed for obvious reasons, a similar model also being in Shinji's possession. After a few button presses, the small unit dialled out to one of the few number's in its directory.

"A virus?" echoed Vegeta as he regarded the wall monitor, which was currently set up to show all the data on the predictions of future Angel incursions as per the dead sea scrolls, "It's unexpected..."

"See what I mean?" said Gohan.

"According to this there shouldn't be any Angel incursions within Central Dogma until at least the advent of the fourteenth Angel and beyond."

"And Commander Ikari has cancelled the alert. By the looks of it he's trying to make it appear to be a minor malfunction," said Vegeta, who had already taken a glance at NERV's systems to get an update on things.

"But why would he do that?" asked Gohan.

"Simple: He wants to appease his superiors. If they think all is going to their plan then there won't be any need for excess suspicion and scrutiny on Ikari's actions."

Gohan cocked his head acceptingly at this "Clever..."

"Futile is the word..." grumbled Vegeta in response.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you forgetting our good friend Mr Kaji?"

"I see," mulled Gohan, realising that by now Kaji had probably already reported what had happened to the people in higher places.

"So then," said Vegeta, "What do you intend to do about it?"

"Nothing," replied Gohan a little grimmer than he intended.

"_What?_" snapped Vegeta, causing Gohan to flinch.

"W-Well there's nothing I _can_ do! I mean sure: I could just fire off a bunch of energy waves and try and vaporise the Angel, but not only would that probably kill half the people in NERV headquarters, but it'll also probably just end up spreading the Angel out over a much wider area; It'll do more harm than good."

"Are you trying to go somewhere with this," said Vegeta with an almost audible scowl, "or are you just whining?"

"I'm _saying, _Vegeta, that there isn't much we _can_ do. I'm afraid we're going to have to just leave this up to NERV...at least for now."

"I'm not saying I _like_ it or anything," grumbled Vegeta, "but I'll leave it to NERV, as you say, for now. Now get back to your fake job."

"I'm supposed to be finished with my shift now, but I'm pretty sure I can stay behind. They probably need all the help they can get. I'll keep you updated." Gohan finished, hanging up the cell and slipping it away before heading back to the others.

-Z-

"And where'd you run off to?" enquired Ritsuko with a raised eyebrow as the young half-Saiyan caught up with the group just as it began to disperse.

"W-What?" stammered Gohan, "Oh, I was just...checking around to see no one was injured or anything."

"_Oh_... And?"

"Umm, none that I could see…"

"Well, that's something, I guess." Replied the doctor tiredly as she turned towards the nearby elevator.

"Umm, ma'am…?" asked Gohan with trepidation.

"Yes?" asked Ritsuko, pausing.

"Well, you see... I know I was told that my shift was over after this test and that I could leave but... If it's all the same with you, ma'am, I'd like to stay behind and see if there's anything else I can do to help."

Ritsuko seemed pleasantly startled for an instant before pondering it to herself, "All right then. It's an emergency so I suppose I can find some use for you. Come with me."

Gohan let a relieved smile cross his face "Right..." he exhaled, falling into step with the doctor, boarding the elevator with her, the Major and Lieutenant Ibuki.

-Z-

Gohan's eyes traced over the monitor displaying the areas contaminated by the Angel, noticing instantly the virus' obvious preference to avoid the heavily oxygenated areas. He chose not to mention it for the plain and simple reason that it was one of those things he simply didn't like the look of. This level of simplicity, especially in combat, usually implied some form of deception.

"Yeah, their preference does seem to be pretty obvious," said Maya as Ritsuko finished explaining the current Angel's pattern of infestation.

"It _looks_ like the area where ozone is vented in to maintain the aseptic conditions isn't contaminated," observed Aoba.

"You mean its weakness is ozone?" asked Misato, turning to Ritsuko

"It would seem so," replied the Doctor.

"Yeah it _does,_ doesn't it..." mumbled Gohan offhandedly to himself, his tone purveying his suspicion.

Ritsuko blinked, turning her head to the left slightly to regard the lieutenant, Misato doing the same, looking at the tech as he frowned at the screen, "Problem?" asked Ritsuko.

Gohan quickly blinked, bringing himself back to reality, realising the lieutenants, Ritsuko and Misato to be regarding him questioningly. He backed up a nervous step, yet managed to keep a level tone as he replied, "Well, doesn't it just seem just a tad _odd_ that the Angel would make it's weakness so apparently, I don't know... _obvious_?"

Ritsuko frowned as she contemplated the possibility as Misato spoke up "He's got a point, you know. It wouldn't be the first time the Angels have used deceptive tactics against us. I wouldn't put it past them to try a bit of reverse psychology."

Ritsuko nodded, "I agree, but still, we have to act with the information we have. I do however agree that you're still right: we should proceed with caution."

"_Relax,_" whispered Misato with a smile, leaning back to the lieutenant having seen how wound tight he appeared to be.

"S-sorry," said Gohan, blushing slightly as he forced himself to relax, "I guess I'm just not very good at being the centre of attention."

"Nah, you're doin' great, new guy," she joked, nudging him slightly, mildly startled at how she found herself unable to budge him an inch.

"I'm not _that_ new anymore, you know," muttered the Saiyan.

"You're _still_ the new guy though," teased the major with a grin, exerting an exasperated groan from the tech before turning her attention back forward.

"Right," began Ritsuko, "begin the ozone injection process. Begin slowly, releasing only small quantities at a time and observe the Angel's reaction to the environmental change."

"Ma'am," Aoba and Hyuuga replied in tandem as they began to carry out her orders.

"Injecting ozone," Hyuuga informed as the stream of ozone began to slowly flood into the Pribnow Box.

Satisfied there were no immediate adverse effects, Ritsuko spoke up, "Begin increasing concentration at five second intervals. Keep an eye on the growth rate."

"It seems to be working alright," Aoba commented optimistically.

It was only Gohan who managed to pick up Fuyutski's quiet words, "Will this work?" he said, his tone purveying the same level of scepticism Gohan held.

"Alright then," said Ritsuko, "increase ozone injection rate to fifty per cent of maximum."

"The pipes around zero-A and zero-B seem to be getting back to normal," stated Maya.

"True, but the central mass seems to be proving more resilient."

"Alright then," said Fuyutski, speaking up, "increase injection rate to maximum."

Gohan's eyes narrowed at the main screen as the infected segments began to disappear, a confused frown knitting at his brow, 'if it's _really_ dying…then why's its ki holding so steady?'

"This isn't right..." murmured Ritsuko as she observed the main mass remain unaffected.

"It's not working!" shouted Aoba suddenly, "The main mass has begun increasing again!"

"Sensors detect heat levels are raising dramatically!" added Hyuuga.

"The full contaminated area, it's spreading again!" said Aoba.

"It's not working anymore!" cut in Maya, "The ozone has stopped having any effect!"

"No! It's actually _absorbing _the ozone and using it to expand!" said Hyuuga loudly as he monitored the readings.

"Stop the ozone injection!" shouted Ritsuko.

Gohan could feel Misato's eyes turn to him somehow. He turned to look at her, his expression blank, "I hate it when I'm right…"

The Saiyan's eyes widened sharply, his head whipping back forwards as he sensed the most peculiar thing since the incident had started.

The Angel's ki was starting to disappear.

"What the hell?" he brethed out loud under his voice, hating this particular Angel more and more by the second. "It's changing again," he murmured, then added as realisation struck, "No, It's _evolving_..." Gohan watched in horrified awe as the visual pattern of the Angel began to morph itself once more. He realised a second too late just what kind of enemy could somehow be alive and yet emit no ki, and he remembered that he had in fact encountered beings in the past who represented precisely such an anomaly:

"It's turning itself into an artificial life form…" and with that, he realised with true horror precisely what this Angel's method of attack was going to be.

"The computer systems...it's going after the MAGI," Misato blinked, turning to the left as she heard Gohan speak up and, as if on call, the screen monitoring the Angel flooded with static as alarms began blazing around them.

"What's going on?" shouted Misato, glancing around.

"Someone's hacking into the sub-computer! We've got an unidentified intruder!" shouted Aoba over the noise.

"God, not now!" groaned Hyuuga, "They're coming in c-mode!"

"We've got to unfreeze the barrier! Open a decoy entry!" shouted Aoba as he worked frantically to keep ahead.

"The decoy has been avoided!"

"T-minus eighteen seconds until trace completion," said Maya.

"Barrier is spread... No effect!" said Hyuuga.

"Open another false entry," Aoba shouted.

"No human being could do this..." said Gohan, his eyes moving as his mind worked just as furiously as the lieutenants to come up with a solution, but of course; he already _knew_ what was happening.

"What are you saying?" Misato said, turning to face the second lieutenant, who was now a mask of intense calm. Gohan didn't even need to answer. Aoba did it for him.

"Trace completed! The hacker is inside this facility! Under B-wing! In the Pribnow Box!" He shouted in shock as it dawned on him.

Misato kept her gaze split between Gohan and the screen, shocked as the image of the Angel changed, and also how the younger tech didn't blink, as if he were expecting it all along.

"Did you _know_ this was going to happen!" she snapped, rounding on him.

Gohan didn't take his eyes from the screen and merely shrugged slightly, his tone somewhat disinterested, "I had a _hunch…_".

Gohan lowered his head slightly, hiding the morbid smirk that crept onto his face, finding himself a cross between angry, exasperated and frustrated. And yet somehow, despite his conflicting emotions, he couldn't find it in himself to be _scared_...

In that instant, Gohan realised this was one of the things that defined what it was to be Saiyan.

"Its optical pattern is changing!" called Maya.

"Those glowing lines..." breathed Aoba, "They're electronic circuits! It's an organic computer!"

"Decoy entries won't work against it..." muttered Gohan under his voice, "It's too intelligent for that."

"Then cut off the main cable!" ordered Misato.

"Negative response. It refuses to accept the command!" replied Hyuuga, a helpless note in his voice.

"Then utilise the lasers!"

"We can't!" replied Maya, "It's generating an AT field!"

Gohan continued regarding the screen with an air of calm, 'So it's not trying to spread itself to Adam straight away. I was right again then…'

"You have to cut off the MAGI's main I/O system," Gohan suddenly announced.

"That's stupid," snapped Ritsuko, "we need the MAGI's links to remain open!"

"_Yes_..." said Gohan, his voice calm as he turned to look at Ritsuko, "and so does the Angel."

"It's cracking the main password!" Shouted Aoba suddenly, "12th digit... 16th digit... It's in!"

"It's accessing the main bank and reading all our files! We can't stop it; it's got all our codes!" shouted Hyuuga.

"What in the heck is it looking for..." murmured Fuyutski thoughtfully.

"It's scanning the main directory," said Aoba, "Accessing codes for... By god, it's going after the MAGI!"

Suddenly, both Ritsuko and Misato's heads turned round to Gohan, who either didn't notice they were looking at him, or was just choosing to ignore them as he stared straight forward with a glare that disturbingly resembled the same one on the face of the supreme commander. Gohan turned sideways, catching the eye of Gendo. The older man looked down, regarding the lieutenant for a brief pause.

"Shut down the I/O system," ordered the commander suddenly.

Gohan's eyes fell slightly as he backed up to lean against the steel wall behind him, resting his head back, "Too late for that now..." he whispered upwards as he began to feel more and more depressed over the situation.

"System shutdown in three, two, one..." Both Aoba and Makoto twisted their keys in the shutdown lock simultaneously.

It was to no avail.

"We can't shut it down!" shouted Hyuuga as the Angel punched through unhindered towards its target.

"The Angel has entered the computer system! It's made contact with Melchior!" said Maya, finding it difficult to believe what was going on in front of her, "Melchior is being _reprogrammed_ by the Angel."

Gohan wasn't sure what it was: the noise or the situation around him, but at some point he found himself grasping his hands over his ears and clenching his eyes shut in an attempt to drown the word out around him as best he could; the stupidity of the humans about him was finally getting to him.

Almost as suddenly as Gohan slumped back, he pushed right back upright, eyes wide open; not _quite_ ready to give into the invader yet. His mind began working the problem from other angles...

'Right: Think, Gohan…The angel's hacking into the MAGI. The only way it can do that is by working on the same premise as any other computer. But either way, we can't stop it just like-' Gohan's contemplations were brutally interrupted by an artificial voice booming over the comm. system.

"MAGI auto-destruct has been initiated"

Gohan's eyes widened in fear, which quickly shifted to momentary relief as the uninfected MAGI overruled their possessed comrade. He had little time for relaxation as Maya's voice sounded, "The Angel's taken over Melchior… And now it's hacking into Balthazar!"

Breathing quickly, Gohan's mind worked faster as he frantically thought up a solution, 'Come _on_… we hacked into the MAGI even easier than the Angel. Think: How could they have stopped _us_ getting in? Darn it…I need to find a way to get this situation to make at least _some_ logical sense, at least-'

'The logic mode!' his mind suddenly screamed out in a flash of inspiration "Of course!" he suddenly announced, eyes blinking fully open as he remembered a conversation he had had with Bulma over one simple way NERV could've slowed them down once they'd already gained access to the MAGI.

Ritsuko swung her head round to look at Gohan, curious about his somewhat enthusiastic outburst. His eyes met Ritsuko's, looking even more intense than before.

"What?" demanded Ritsuko impatiently.

"_Change it!_" shouted Gohan almost frantically

"Change _what?_" shouted Ritsuko, a note of panic in her voice.

"The logic mode! If we change that and set it on a continuous cyclic shift then-"

Ritsuko gasped in shock as the same realisation hit her "-Then the Angel's current premise of access will no longer apply!" She swung back to the others, "You heard him! Switch the logic mode, set synchronization code to cycle every fifteen seconds!"

"Right!" Came a trio of replies as the lieutenants rushed to comply.

Gohan held his breath as his eyes watched the red flashing indicators indicating the taken areas of the MAGI blink faster for a second...then stop.

There was a group exhalation of breath as Gohan slumped back against the wall again, blowing a dark lock of hair out of his sweat-soaked forehead, 'Why do I feel like I just went ten rounds with Majin Buu?'

"How much time did we buy?" a slightly relieved Fuyutski enquired.

"Two and a half hours... Maybe," replied Aoba in a somewhat breathless tone.

"And so...the MAGI have become our enemy," said the sub-commander in an all-too morbid tone as the bridge members collected themselves.

After a minute of reorganisation, the commander pushed himself to his feet, "Very well, I want all the information we have collected and analysed. Report to the main briefing room in thirty minutes with your findings and recommendations."

"Yes sir!" came a chorus of replies from below him. And with that, the commander left the bridge; primarily to begin damage control before too much information on the situation was leaked to SEELE...

Gohan remained leaned back on the wall with his eyes closed, one hand still massaging his temples in an attempt to rub off the frustration he was feeling at that point. 'Not since Cell have I felt so…_helpless_ before.'

"Hey..." Came Misato's friendly voice to Gohan's left, startling him back to reality to find the Major leaning against the wall with him.

"S-sorry, ma'am, I was a mile away."

"That's okay," said Misato, smiling pleasantly, "you've been in since 6am, and since you're willingly staying behind, I guess I can cut you some slack." She tilted her head thoughtfully, "_that_ was impressive…"

"W-what?"

"You heard: you've managed to stop the angel dead in its tracks. A few more seconds and the time we have to regroup would've been cut by nearly half an hour according to Ritsuko."

"It _could've_ been stopped a lot earlier. The degree to how easy this situation _could_ have been dealt with compared to what it has become is just staggering," said Gohan, folding his arms as a frown creased his brow.

"You know, I don't know why it is you're so adverse to being the centre of attention. You've got a decent brain on you, kid. You _really_ should speak up a bit more often."

Gohan's found himself scowling suddenly at the Major, "Are you saying that this is _my_ fault? I tried to tell everyone that-"

"-Easy there, tiger. I didn't mean it like that," corrected Misato quickly, fighting a twinge of unease she felt rising around the younger tech when he was irritated. She suddenly cocked her head to regard him more carefully.

"W-What is it?"

"You _know,_ you _do_ look familiar somehow. Did we meet back in Germany or something?"

Gohan suddenly felt as uneasy as the major did several seconds ago, "I-I don't know… maybe. It's a small world, you know."

"_No_..." said Misato, "It's not like _recognition_, more like a slight feeling of… _familiarity._ I dunno, maybe I knew your parents or something."

"Th-that's impossible!" Gohan said, waving it off as he backed away a step.

"Why?" enquired the curiously.

"Because…" said Gohan, hesitating, "my parents are, umm... They're… dead," he nodded a little too enthusiastically considering the situation, "Yup, you know, second impact and all…"

"_Oh…" _said Misato, his words hitting a spot in her that seemed to make her unable to notice his apparent lack of depression over the issued, "I'm so sorry. I should've been more attentive with your personnel file else I wouldn't have brought it up."

"It's okay," replied Gohan with a shrug, remembering thankfully that his cover story did have him as an orphaned only child with no living relatives. There were less loose ends that could be looked into that way.

"Well, _anyway_," said Misato, trying to break what she thought was a gloomy mood, "The briefing's about to start."

"Well, umm, good luck with that," replied Gohan with a smile.

"Well, _actually, _Ritsuko asked me to bring you along with me."

"D-doctor Akagi did?" stammered Gohan, startled slightly.

"Uh-huh, I guess you made an impression after all."

"I _guess_…"

"Well, come on. It's about to start, and remember: if you've got something to say, just say it._ Believe me;_ Ritsuko's bark is far worse than her bite."

"Yeah, but what about commander Ikari?"

"Commander Ikari? Don't worry about him. He doesn't have a bark, he'll just bite your whole head off…"

-Z-

"It appears that the Eleventh Angel's body consists primarily of a group of nanomachines, each the size of a virus. Said machines then form together into colonies, and in a very short period of time they proceed to mutate at an exponential rate to form a sophisticated intelligence circuit," explained Ritsuko as they stared down at the screen currently displaying all the information they had on the Angel.

"Spontaneous evolution..." commented Gohan as his eyes traced over the zoomed-in areas infested by the Angel, 'fascinating... Shame it wants to kill us; it would've made a good research subject.'

"Yes, they continually change themselves in order to form the best system needed to cope with their environment," said Ritsuko.

"I understand, it's this Angel's survival mechanism: total adaptability," said Fuyutski.

Gohan's eyes traced left as Misato spoke up, "I can see only one available countermeasure for dealing with an adversary that continually adapts to overcome any problems with its environment: Eliminate its host; let them die with it. I am therefore suggesting the full destruction of the MAGI system."

"Impossible!" snapped Ritsuko, "Destroying the MAGI means destroying headquarters itself!"

"Then I officially request it on behalf of the operations Division," said Misato icily.

"Then I reject it!" shot back Ritsuko.

"M-May I?" intervened Gohan meekly, raising one hand as multiple sets of eyes turned to him.

Misato exhaled a breath to calm down, "_What?_"

"It's just…that wouldn't work either way," said Gohan.

"How do you figure?" Misato pushed.

"W-well, you're thinking of this Angel as a parasite which is in effect _living_ off the system as if it's completely fused with it. However, if you destroy the MAGI then the Angel will simply revert back to its body in the Pribnow Box, to its former physical state in order to seek out a _new_ environment. From there it might just go directly after Ad- ahh, a _different_ target."

"I _suppose_," sighed Misato, "but do you have a _better_ idea?"

Gohan bowed his head slightly, humming in thought for a second before looking back up, "W_ell_," he began tentatively, "before, when it was in it's purely viral state, we didn't stand much of a chance against it. In its _current_ form however, we do. In fact, it presents just the opportunity we need."

"Meaning?" enquired Misato curiously.

"W-well, in order for it to be doing what it's doing, then it must have mutated itself into a system which is compatible with the MAGI in order to access it," Gohan explained, "What I'm _saying_ is: why don't we just do to it what it did to us?" He finished, shrugging slightly, the Saiyan being somewhat confused as to why this wasn't the first thing suggested.

"Are you suggesting we attempt to _hack_ the Angel?" enquired Ritsuko somewhat incredulously.

"Yup... And _then_ it's just a matter of using its own survival mechanism against it."

"We restructure its evolution..." said Fuyutski, catching on.

"Bingo," confirmed Gohan with a small smile.

Gendo stepped forward, evolution being something both he and Fuyutski were quite well versed in, "We must restructure its evolution so it leads to its own self-destruction: death itself."

"We set it up so absorbing the MAGI will lead to an evolutionary dead end," agreed Fuyutski.

"And if the Angel considers it to be its _only_ chance of survival, it may just choose to co-exist with the MAGI instead," stated Ritsuko.

"_But_," continued the doctor, "in order to do so, we must hook the angel up to Casper -it being the only MAGI we have total control over. From there we can upload a program that will cause the Angel to self-destruct, _but-_"

"-but in order to do that we'll have to remove the barrier system set up to protect the remaining MAGI," finished Maya.

"Therefore it is merely a question of just who is faster: Casper or the Angel," stated Gendo, eyes flicking to the half red MAGI display.

"Yes sir," confirmed Ritsuko, folding her clipboard under her arm

"Then this program, will it be ready in time?" asked Misato, "Because if we lose the remainder of Balthazar, and Casper is taken over first… it'll all be over."

"I _keep_ my promises," stated Ritsuko somewhat ambiguously, Misato looking away.

Gendo pushed his glasses up his nose, seeing nothing further to discuss, "Very well. I leave the situation in your hands, doctor. Dismissed."

"Yes sir!" came the chorus of replies as the group around the table scattered to go about their respective tasks.

"Right let's get to work. Maya, Moriyama. With me," said Ritsuko simply as she headed off towards the nearby ladder leading down to the level Casper was on.

"Don't mind if I tag along do you?" asked Misato with a smile as she headed on after Ritsuko.

Gohan spoke the words, "Y-yes ma'am" as he followed Ritsuko, yet all his mind could think was 'What have I gotten myself in to?' and by the time he reached the bottom of the ladder, this had switched to a steady 'Why couldn't I just keep my big mouth shut?'

Gohan watched curiously as Ritsuko flipped up a panel in the floor and pushed a control. Seconds later, the hulking form of Casper began to steadily rise upwards into its maintenance position, revealing the access hatch in the side.

Of course, as far as Gohan was concerned, the MAGI system was sub-standard technology to say the least, but both he and Bulma did however find the general premise that the whole system worked on to be highly fascinating.

-Z-

"Jeez, _someone's_ left a mess in here..." murmured Gohan as he leaned into the aperture on Casper's side, eyes flicking over the hundreds of post-it notes that had been haphazardly stuck over the MAGI's interior workings.

"No," corrected Ritsuko, leaning around Gohan and slipping inside, "These are the notes left behind by the main programmer."

"Your mom left these, doc?" asked Gohan.

Ritsuko was silent for a second, looking at the pages of handwritten code. She nodded silently, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"These... Are access codes," said Maya, a note of awed disbelief in her voice," the MAGI's secret codes!"

"Amazing..." breathed as his eyes traced over the walls of Casper's inner workings, happily making a few mental notes of the easier to remember codes. 'If only they knew…just by showing me these will make NERV totally helpless against us.' Despite all this, and the simplicity of the technology, he couldn't help but give credit to the mathematical grace that Naoko Akagi obviously possessed.

"It's like having a map to all the MAGI's back doors!" said Misato as she glanced around.

"These are INT-C, schematics, everything!" said Maya happily, her tone conveying her increasing hope.

'By Kami, this is like some kind of hacker heaven' thought Gohan, "with these you've practically got the MAGI handed to you on a silver platter. With these it might be a whole lot easier to stop this Angel. We may actually have a chance to pull this off."

"Uh-huh," agreed Ritsuko with a smile.

She was for once proud to be her mother's daughter.

-Z-

A half hour and a whole lot of disassembling later, the area around Casper was littered with parts and control boards linked directly up to its internal mechanisms.

The flooring space was dotted with the occasional programming note while Misato and Ritsuko finished off opening the necessary parts inside the MAGI whilst Maya and Gohan began coding outside.

Maya glanced up occasionally from her board at her junior as he worked; a look of intense concentration on his face. His left arm was dotted with post-it notes so he would have all the data he needed at hand.

"You're not very talkative..." Maya observed, not looking up as she continued working, breaking the silence they had been in for some time.

"Well we all have our different sides, Maya," replied Gohan, pausing only to glance up at the dominating form of the MAGI, "this system is proof of that."

"Oh? And which side are we seeing now?" asked Ritsuko, emerging from the side of the MAGI. She set her glasses on her nose and immediately began typing away on a nearby control board.

Gohan cocked his head as he worked, "_Well..._" he began, feeling part of Ritsuko's attention focused on him, "I _suppose,_ assuming you actually believe that Freudian stuff, there be myself as a man...myself as a student-"

"'A Student?'" cut in Ritsuko curiously glancing up over the rim of her glasses with a raised eyebrow.

"W-Well I a-always consider myself to be a student of as many subjects as I can," fumbled Gohan.

"I _see," _replied Ritsuko, intrigued by the conversation, "And…?"

"And myself as a..." Gohan's fingers paused on the keyboard, essentially halting himself from utilising the word 'warrior'.

"As a what?" Ritsuko paused in her own typing, glancing over to him as she moved to read up the other programmer's notes, which Maya had helpfully chosen to stick all over Gohan's back and left arm for easy reference.

"_Well_..." said Gohan tentatively, "If you don't mind... I'd like to keep that one to myself for now."

Ritsuko cocked her head acceptingly, going back to her keyboard, "Very well..." Ritsuko said acceptingly as she went back to work, "But you still haven't answered my question: which side of you are we seeing now?"

Gohan was already working away, his mask of concentration back in place. He neither looked up not missed a keystroke as he replied, "...The third one."

Ritsuko left it at this to ponder as Gohan suddenly spoke up again.

"And, Maya..." said Gohan, his tone still unwavering as he typed.

"What is it?" She asked, glancing up.

"If any of those post-it notes you stuck to my back have the words 'kick me' written on them, then I'm going to be sorely disappointed in you..."

Maya quickly reached up and swiped a piece of paper from Gohan's back.

-Z-

Gohan smiled at his work as he went on to coding the last of the classes for the program. He exhaled a deep breath and set his board down: his part had been played.

"Need a hand?" asked Gohan, leaning back against the side of Casper.

"_Finished?_" gaped Maya.

Gohan smiled softly, "I work well under pressure..." he replied, a note of irony in his tone.

The Saiyan was glad that he'd kept his back to Misato and the others while his hands worked away, "I guess all that pressure just let loose all at once," He said, staring ahead as Maya worked away. Suddenly his brow furrowed as realisation dawned on him, "I was terrified..." he murmured suddenly.

Maya's fingers stopped as she looked up at him.

"Everyone was," She replied, a comforting tone in her voice.

"No, you _don't_ understand," said Gohan, hands gripping his knees, "I've only felt that way _once_ in my entire life," an image of Super Perfect Cell preparing his final attack flashed through his head, the memory of the pain he felt in his arm as it hung lifelessly at his side still fresh, "For just an instant... I thought it was over."

"What happened?" Maya asked softly

Gohan frowned and was quiet for a second, "You could say that as a result of my own procrastination and overconfidence, I almost lost _everything,_" His eyes suddenly raised up to meet Maya's… and he smiled, "But that was then," he said, his hand hovering over his control board, "And _this_ is now," and he stabbed his finger down onto the return key, sending his program up into active memory to await the rest, "and I am _not_ a helpless child any more…"

Gohan passed a quick glance over at his fellow tech and chuckled shyly, "Sorry about that, Maya. I didn't mean to ramble…"

Maya smiled back "It's no problem, Moriyama-kun. Sometimes I think the problem is that people don't babble enough these days. Let me know if you ever feel like babbling again…I'd be happy to listen," suddenly she gasped and looked quickly away, "Th-that is… if you'd ever like to talk to someone…I'm here… not that I'm _asking _to meet up and talk or..or…I'll just shut up now."

Gohan just chuckled, "Yeah, well let me give you a hand with what's left," He glanced at Maya's screen, "Tell you what: let's split the work left over between us. Maybe we can beat the great Ritsuko Akagi to the punch."

"Are you sure?" asked Maya with a hint of worry in her voice, "I mean… your shift started over eighteen hours ago. Are you sure you don't need a rest?"

"Nah I'm fine... _Besides_; I can just sleep it off during tomorrow's shift."

Maya just playfully punched him on the shoulder, not nearly having the heart to be angry at him any more...

-Z-

Ritsuko glanced at the display on her watch. A satisfied smile spread on her face as she realised the time remaining was still in double-digits minute wise.

They had done well.

"Ready, Maya?" called Ritsuko to her subordinate.

"Ready, ma'am!" replied Maya.

"You Ready, Moriyama?" the doctor called again.

"Yeah... He's ready" replied Misato for him, to Ritsuko's mild confusion.

"Okay, hit it!" she shouted as both she and Maya hit their respective return keys, the lines of coding being compiled and uploading directly into the Angel.

Everyone on the bridge held their breaths as the main display indicator blinked several times over. Suddenly, the indicator displaying the invader's progress into the MAGI swept backwards as the Angel led itself to its own evolutionary and… _actual_ end.

"We did it!" called Misato triumphantly, her relief echoed by pretty much everyone else on the bridge.

"It worked! It actually worked!" chimed Maya happily as Doctor Akagi crawled out of the MAGI and glanced up with a smile.

"Excellent work, everyone," said Ritsuko as she rubbed the sweat off her brow and leaned up against Casper.

"Umm, what about him?" asked Misato, pointing downwards at the form leaned up against her left leg.

Ritsuko let out an exasperated groan, "Since _when_?" she asked, eyebrow twitching.

"Umm... About three minutes ago," said Maya, smiling over at the form.

Shaking her head, Ritsuko bent down and called straight into the ear of the young man curled up against Misato's leg, a keyboard hugged in his arms like a teddy bear, "Moriyama... WAKE UP!"

"Wh-Wha-?" slurred Gohan, leaping straight up to attention and glancing around to get his bearings, "Oh, I'm still here…".

"Just thought I'd let you know..." said Ritsuko with a sigh at the dozy tech, "_We won,_" he merely yawned in response as Maya got up and proceeded to peel the personal notes haphazardly stuck all over him.

Gohan stretched and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, "Oh... Thaz nice."

"There's that dedication again," said Ritsuko as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, pocketing her glasses.

"Umm… ma'am?" Gohan replied, yawning again.

"Hmm?"

"If it's not too much to ask, can I _please _go home now?"

Ritsuko gave a small laugh as she glanced at the time, "Sure... You _barely_ seem to be conscious as it is."

"Thanks..." said Gohan drearily as he stretched once and headed off.

Ritsuko hummed thoughtfully as she stared at the back of the young tech and called after him, "Oh…and report to Commander Ikari's office at 4pm tomorrow."

Gohan was immediately snapped out of his stupor as he glanced suddenly back, a decidedly pale look on his face.

Ritsuko smiled as she noticed the horrified look on his face, "I wouldn't worry If I were you," was all she said as Gohan turned and headed off, feeling less than reassured.

"Hmm, but aren't we forgetting something?" said Misato, chewing a fingernail in thought.

"Like what?" Maya stated back.

"Well I can't think of anything..." Ritsuko stated as she grasped her clipboard nearby.

"The pilots!" Shouted Gohan impatiently from the end of the corridor.

"_Ah_..." came the chorus of realisation from the three women, the dread dawning of having to deal with an apocalyptically angry naked German EVA pilot coming down heavily.

All three looked at each other and then, all at once, turned to look up at the bridge, "Oh, _Hyuuga!_"

-Z-

_To be continued…_

[A/N] Yes, this one took longer than I thought to come out, but being stricken with the flu will do that to an author, that and the morbidly depressing Evangelion 3.0 too threw me off for a day or so, but at last things start to reach the interesting part of the tale… I'll see you next time.

See you in Chapter 18: You can [Not] Interject


	18. Chapter 18: You can Not Interject

[A/N] And now things may go slightly off the rails as I toss a few brand new elements into the game, you've all been kind an patient, thanks to Vandenbz for his help redoing the earlier chapters, thanks to you tvtropers whose odd choice to make a page for this fic reminded me of its existence enough to get things moving again…the death threats helped too, I guess. Everything here out is for you.

**Chapter 18: You can [Not] Interject**

In the untold depths of NERV headquarters, deep in the heart of the Geofront, an elevator continued its ascent with two occupants inside, one of them noticeably more composed than the other.

Tears were streaming down Shinji's face as his emotions overwhelmed him. However these were not tears of sadness.

Gohan drummed his fingers against the wall, scowling as his patience began to wear thin, "_Shinji_..."

"Y-yes?" Shinji choked out, brushing his tears away.

"You can stop laughing now…" grumbled Gohan. After he had finished reporting what had just happened, the younger teen had decided the best thing to do was to promptly crack up into hysterical laughter.

"S-Sorry," stammered the boy, finally pulling himself together. The Third child really was the only occupant of the elevator who found the situation amusing, "A-are you _serious?"_

"Yes..." Gohan sighed, folding his arms as he leaned back.

"_Seriously?_"

"_Yes..._" Gohan moaned again.

"_He _did that?"

"YES!" barked the demi-Saiyan.

Shinji shook his head, "So…after all that worry; after all that anticipation over what my father was going to say to you when you reported to his office, all that build up...and he _promoted_ you?" Shinji then proceeded to have another good laugh, much to Gohan's discomfort.

"It's not that funny. I was really worried what he was going to say!"

Shinji wiped his brow, extending a disbelieving hand, "B-but, you're the _spy!_ He _promoted_… the spy!"

Gohan chuckled slightly, finding the irony to indeed have a slightly humorous side.

"Well then," said Shinji, approaching Gohan, "may I do the honours?"

"Huh?" Gohan enquired as Shinji reached out and grasped the small silver bar he still had resting in his outstretched palm, "_Oh_..." he said, catching on, "Sure; go right ahead," he tilted his head slightly, giving Shinji access to the lapel of his uniform.

The younger teenager reached up and removed the gold bar significant of a junior lieutenant and neatly replaced it with the silver bar representing a full first-grade lieutenant.

"There we go..." said Shinji, stepping back, "Congratulations on your promotion, _sir._"

"Thanks... I'm _thrilled,_" said Gohan a hollow tone, noting particularly how many unnecessary extra hours he was going to be forced to put in, _especially_ since he was now reassigned as one of Dr Akagi's two main research assistants along with Lieutenant Ibuki during non-combat situations. But what was more significant was his new _official_ title: the newly created position of '_Assistant Director of Operations_', which had him working directly under Major Katsuragi, at per her personal request apparently.

"Just _great,_" groaned Gohan, "So much for staying inconspicuous. Now I couldn't attract any more attention if I still had my _tail_!" he stated painfully, flopping back against the wall in defeat.

"You had a _tail_?" enquired Shinji through one opened eye from his usual relaxed position against the opposite wall with his hands up and behind his head.

Gohan waved off the query, indicating a long story he couldn't be bothered telling.

"And you?" asked Gohan suddenly after a moment of silence.

"Hmm?" hummed Shinji, not opening his eyes.

"What have you been up to lately?"

"Research..." Shinji replied, a tad ambiguously.

"Oh?" asked Gohan, uncrossing his arms, "Found anything interesting?"

_"Maybe..._" replied Shinji tentatively, opening his eyes with a thoughtful frown.

"I'm listening."

Shinji shook his head, exhaling a breath, "Oh, I _don't know… _It's this new project proposal of NERV's that's gone through with the commander's authorisation. I just don't like the level of secrecy the MAGI has placed around it. It just doesn't smell right..."

"Which project is that?"

"It's this new 'Dummy Plug' system. Frankly, even the _name_ gives me the chills. I'd give you more information but the rest of the data hasn't even been entered into the systems yet. The only info I have is the fact that a project with that name has been proposed and given the go ahead. It must all be stored externally or in hard copy somewhere."

"Yeah?" said Gohan, "Well keep an eye on it. You don't need to worry about them finding out you've been hacking into the MAGI so long as you're using Bulma's laptop. I've put in place a few _special_ sub-routines during the last maintenance to ensure you're personal anonymity."

"Well that's a relief. But do you think they'll involve _you_ on the project?" enquired Shinji.

"Maybe... After all, my security clearance _has_ just been knocked up a notch or two thanks to this," said Gohan, flicking the silver bar on his collar.

"Well it would save me a lot of work if you were on it."

"Thanks a lot," muttered Gohan with a frown.

Shinji sighed, "I didn't mean it like that."

"I suppose... it's just, believe it or not, this is a little overwhelming for me."

"For _you_?" asked Shinji with disbelief, having known the sort of situations Gohan had been in in the past.

"I'm still in _high school,_ Shinji. And here's me working at a paramilitary installation doing the work of trained professionals holding masters degrees and PHDs; people _trained _to do their jobs. I mean I'm only five years older than _you_; I'm still a _teenager_. I guess what I'm trying to say is… I was just totally unprepared for the actual _scale_ of the job I was undertaking. I thought I'd just be sitting in a corner pretending to push buttons while taking secret notes about what's going on and then jumping out to save the day along with my dad once the cover was no longer needed or NERV did something stupid. I never dreamed I'd actually have to deal with all this stuff."

"_Gohan_..." sighed Shinji comfortingly, "Just remember, as tough as things get, you're not _actually_ working here. Hell, if they had _half_ a clue as to who you really were, you'd probably be at the receiving end of a couple of hundred semi-automatic weapons and an EVA by now. And..."

"And what?"

"Would _that_ pose a threat to you? I mean, what's the _worst_ they could do?

Well, I guess what I'm _trying_ to say is this: When it all starts getting you down, just do one thing..."

"And what's that?"

"Just… remember who you are," finished Shinji as be backed out of the elevator with his bag in hand, leaving his half-Saiyan counterpart behind.

-Z-

Gohan stood in silence with narrowed eyes as the young Third Child's words ran through his mind.

"Remember who I am..." The solitary Saiyan mumbled. He pondered the words for a second, a smile slowly spreading across his features as the elevator dinged to a halt on his stop. He then gave a sharp, decisive nod and strode out back onto duty.

-Z-

Several floors below, Shinji wasn't doing much of anything, having stopped dead a few paces away from the elevator. Well, nothing with the exception of rubbing his chin with an extremely baffled expression on his face.

"_Me_... Being caring and insightful? _God, _what the hell has happened to me lately?" He laughed once to himself incredulously, rubbing his brow and walking off; deciding that dwelling on shifts in his personality could wait. Shinji was far more focused on his next little appointment. His mood lightened instantly, his features lifting also into an almost cheeky grin.

He had someone waiting for him…

-Z-

Rei Ayanami could never say with any honesty that she'd ever reallyy _enjoyed_ her practice in music. To be perfectly honest, she'd never really classed it as anything more than a method of testing and improving her hand-eye coordination, and ultimately assist her in better performing her duties. Indeed, she had been totally indifferent to the admiration she received while actually performing the art. Today_,_ however, was an exception. She was sat on the hillside overlooking Tokyo-3 under the warm eternal summer sun as she ran the bow in her hand gently over her viola strings, the sound of Air on Strings (in G) by Bach floating gently in the air.

Glancing down without stopping or interrupting her meticulous playing, she gazed at the form of Shinji Ikari, who currently had his head resting in her lap, his eyes closed. His breathing was slow and gentle as he relaxed with utmost content.

Rei debated with herself as to whether or not Shinji had actually fallen asleep, or was just in some kind of entranced daze. Either way, the contented look that graced his features was a stark contrast to the pain and coldness that had graced them not several months prior. Rei Ayanami was intent on doing whatever it took to make sure he never sank back into that pit of sadness again.

Rei's cheeks flushed slightly as her mind allowed itself to wander back to some of the more intimate moments they had shared together, out of sight from the rest of the world.

And once more, here they were; out of sight from the rest of the world. Rei lifted her bow from the strings, blanketing the hillside in silence. She placed the instrument carefully down at her side. The First Child let her ears adjust to the quiet until she could hear only the sound of her boyfriend's slow breathing.

Rei stared down, her mind flicking back to the problem that her warring mind had been working on: she had been trying to quantify the change that had been occurring in her since the first time the Third Child had cradled her in his arms. The reasoning why such frivolous things as dating and emotional attachments didn't hinder her true purpose had suddenly become clear to her. Rei leaned down slightly, brushing her hand over his cheek as she whispered softly into his ear, as if in fear that perhaps the birds or animals might hear.

"It's because my _purpose_..." she whispered, " is your happiness, my Shinji…" Rei smiled softly, brushing her pale lips ever so gently over her partner's, only to be forced to stifle a sudden gasp.

"Well that's good to know," said Shinji, whose eyes were now open and looking up at her with more than a hint of amusement.

Rei blushed profusely and sharply averted her gaze sideward. At least she tried to anyway, as Shinji's right arm came up and circled round her neck, pulling the blushing blue-head down into his loving embrace and, more to the point, her lips directly into contact with his own.

It always amused the Third Child just how easily Rei could be momentarily shocked and then _seriously _get into certain _actions_ within in the space of a second 'Wow,' thought Shinji with bemusement as Rei practically pinned him down, 'she must've had some _seriously_ suppressed urges…'

The boy opened a single eye to glance at her pale yet stunningly attractive, entranced features. Said eye suddenly noticed something hanging on the peripheral of his vision.

"What?" asked the albino girl simply as Shinji gently ushered themselves apart. The boy now had his head turned on its side, staring out at something with a frown etched into his features.

"And the day started out _so_ well..." sighed Shinji as Rei followed his stare, pulling herself up into a sitting position, Shinji doing the same at her side a moment after.

Shinji's shoulders sagged as he exhaled a tired breath, "Rei, either that is the ugliest parade balloon I've ever seen, _or_..."

"Or what?" enquired Rei and, as if on cue, both of their cell phones began ringing.

Shinji sighed, "…or Leliel just crashed our date."

"Let's go," said Rei, her tone suddenly serious as she slid her nimble body round, putting her viola quickly back into its case and swinging it over her shoulder, "We can use one of the nearby tertiary transit lines to get into the Geo-front."

Shinji walked quickly to catch up, falling into step alongside Rei, "Wait, there are entrances to the geo-front all the way up here?"

Rei inclined her head in acknowledgement, "These entrances are not known to the public. They have been there since the organisation Gehirn was developing the Geofront. Very few of the current NERV personnel know of their existence."

A frown knitted at Shinji's brow, "Umm, Rei? That would make them over ten years old. Are you _sure_ they're still safe to use?"

"They should be undamaged," said Rei, "they have been sealed and untouched for several years now."

"That's _not_ very comforting, Rei…"

-Z-

Goten was sitting at the edge of the planes where the capsule houses were located, looking up at the sphere in the sky with curiosity , "Is _that_ an Angel, Daddy?" asked the young boy, cocking his head around to look up at his father, the elder Saiyan looking up at the orb with a serious expression on his face.

Goku held off for several seconds before answering, "Yes, Goten. But it's not that ball in the sky. The Angel's _actual _body must be somewhere else."

A confused Goten stood up and proceeded to carefully survey his surroundings, even going so far as to check under his feet, "Can't see it..."

"You're not _supposed_ to," came the unmistakable voice of Vegeta as he approached. The prince crossed his arms as he halted by Goku.

"So what do you think?" asked Goku, not taking his eyes from the sphere.

"Another deception," replied Vegeta, barely sparing the false lure in the sky a second glance, "This is some kind of trap."

"You think NERV knows?" asked Trunks, who was hovering nearby his father.

"We'll just have to leave that up to Gohan, wont we," said Goku, cocking his head with a small smile.

-Z-

Gohan found himself doing something he rarely ever did, even in this kindof situation:

He was pacing.

The Saiyan wasn't even doing it consciously, but still he found himself walking back and forth behind the bridge bunnies' command chairs.

Gohan's entire body tensed up suddenly as a pair of slender yet gentle hands landed on his shoulders, giving them a brief but reassuring squeeze, "_relax_..." whispered Maya as she walked by him, dropping into her chair.

Gohan exhaled the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding and slumped back against the steel wall behind him. His left eyebrow rose up as he caught sight of his direct commanding officer hastily approaching.

"Sorry I'm late!" said Misato as she ran onto the bridge, still in the process of adjusting her hair and jacket. She passed a brief apologetic look to Gohan, who shot a relieved but still annoyed glare back, "Status?" she asked.

"Unit-02 is ready for launch at any time. Rei and Shinji just arrived and are on their way to suit up," said Gohan, pushing off the wall and joining Misato at her side.

"_Just?_" echoed the always impatient Second Child, her voice booming over the comm. system, "Do you have _any _idea how long I've been sitting here?"

"I'm sure they have their reasons Asuka," sighed Misato calmly, "just wait a little longer."

"_Yeah,_" muttered Asuka, "completely _true_ reasons that have absolutely _nothing_ to do with mushy stuff that makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about."

There were several exchanges of baffled looks from some of the bridge's command staff, the exception to these being Misato, Gohan and Maya, who suddenly looked quite uncomfortable.

"What do you think?" asked Misato with a sidelong glance to Gohan, who was now at full attention, arms folded and a serious frown on his face; unwittingly mimicking his father's poise in just such a situation.

Gohan's brow creased into a frown, "I don't think we should take this one at face value," he said, eyes narrowing at the image on the screen, "something's..._off_."

"Off?" echoed Misato.

Gohan shook his head as he thought how best to put it, "I don't know. I mean, are we receiving _any_ energy readings from the Angel; have we even registered the presence of an AT field yet?"

"Not a thing, sir" replied Aoba as he read off his screen, "the MAGI are withholding their judgement on its field, and we're not detecting anything beyond what we're getting from visual reference."

"I thought so..." replied Gohan, adding with a pained groan "And _please_ don't call me 'sir'."

"Hmph, better late than never!" chided Asuka over the communication link as her two co-pilots boarded their EVAs, their images blinking up on the main bridge screen.

"S-sorry about that," stammered Shinji as he adjusted his neural connectors.

"I apologize also, pilot Soryu," added Rei as she settled into her seat.

"Yeah, yeah, _whatever_..." grumbled Asuka, "Now can we _please_ get a move on?"

"You know, I never would've thought of that, Asuka," retorted Misato sarcastically, "Initiate pre-launch sequence," she ordered, massaging her sinuses briefly to halt a headache she could feel coming.

Seconds later, the three EVAs were released from their positions in the cage and manoeuvred into position on the catapults.

"EVAs are in position; catapult tracks clear," said Aoba.

Misato opened her mouth to speak and then, as if deciding on something, closed it again. A small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth as she nudged the teenager to her left, "Hey, new guy. Why don't you do the honours this time?"

Gohan blinked in surprise and then sighed, smiling tiredly as he wondered, 'Just what the _hell_ am I doing?' then turned his attention to the three before him. "Launch EVA!"

As the EVAs were sent rocketing to the surface, Misato tilted her head thoughtfully, "Hmm, not bad," She said, suddenly noticing the serious frown that had appeared on the young lieutenant's face. She also noted his complete change in posture: the squaring of the shoulders and his footing, as if he were readying to actually fight also, 'it's strange; the way he suddenly changes like that…'

She wasn't the only person who had picked up a habit of attempting to analyse the younger lieutenant. Maya, sitting in the left command chair, couldn't help but stare out of the corner of her eye, noting the strangely tense air the younger man gave off when he was serious about something, a stark contrast to how was when relaxed, 'What is this strange aura he has about him; he's like a totally different person. I shouldn't be thinking about this _now, b_ut why do I _keep_ thinking that there's something that's just not... _usual_ about him.' Maya snapped herself quickly out of her revere as she realised the other lieutenant was looking right back at her, a frown still on his face as he regarded her questioningly. Blinking, she quickly averted her face back to her console and attempted to concentrate more at what was at hand, 'what _is__ it _with him?' thought Maya exasperatingly, 'No, what is it with _me! _Why can't I stop _thinking_ about-' Maya's mind froze with a cross between horror and realisation, her entire body freezing up, her fingers tensed, eyes staring ahead 'Oh god, no...'

"Something wrong Maya?" enquired Gohan curiously, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking her gently, "Hellooo, Earth to Maya?" Gohan flinched back as Maya came close to leaping clean out of her chair as she registered his proximity, "W-wow! Are you... _Feeling alright_?" asked the younger man with a cautiously raised eyebrow.

"Y-yeah," said Maya, her cheeks flushed, "s-sorry about that. Guess I dazed off there for a second. Sorry, sir…"

Gohan's eyes narrowed, "are you _sure _you're okay?" he asked, leaning in a little closer, "You're looking a little flustered."

"I...I'm fine" She said, averting her face again.

"_Okay..._" said Gohan dubiously, turning back to face forward, totally missing the smirks and meaningful looks passed amongst the surrounding command staff. When it came to the subtleties of life (i.e. women), Son Gohan was about as quick on the uptake as his father was...

"If we could save the flirtations until _after_ we kill the Angel," came a certain redhead's impatient voice.

"Huh?" said Gohan, a baffled expression on his face.

"You're in there..." whispered Misato in Gohan's ear from the side and nodding in Maya's direction.

"Wha-?" gawked Gohan, confusion rising rapidly.

'_Clueless_...' noted Ritsuko who, like her college friend, had made several attempts also at psychoanalysing the younger officer.

"The three EVAs are in position, ma'am" announced Hyuuga, bringing everyone's attention fully back to the situation at hand.

-Z-

'_I don't like this...' _the disembodied Doctor Ikari said carefully, using a cautious tone for the first time since gaining contact with her son.

'That's my line,' retorted Shinji mentally as his mother's always soothing, yet still somehow nervous voice sounded through his head, 'can you possibly _elaborate_?' enquired the boy with tired sarcasm.

'_No,' _replied Yui, '_that's why I don't like it.'_

'Some help you are,' muttered the boy.

'_Hey! I'm doing my best he-'_

'-kidding, mother…' cut in Shinji with a sigh as glanced around the corner of the skyscraper he was leaning up against. Up above them, The Twelfth Angel hung motionlessly in the air in precisely the same way bricks don't.

'_It feels wrong; VERY wrong,'_ warned Yui as she watched the Angel through both her son's and the EVA's eyes.

"-espond, Unit-01," came Misato's voice on the edge of Shinji's consciousness, startling him back to attention.

"S-sorry, ma'am. I was miles away," said Shinji.

"Yeah, yeah, that seems to be going around today," retorted Misato, glancing at Maya.

Ritsuko regarded the screen thoughtfully for a brief moment, "What's his synchograph status?" she asked suddenly.

"Well," said Maya, pulling up the relevant data, "that small brainwave fluctuation we detected during his synch experiment seems to be resurfacing in short bursts. His synch ratio is also now locked in at _precisely_ ninety-nine point five per cent."

Ritsuko glanced over Maya's shoulder and eyed the graph readouts, murmuring, "There's that damned precision again..."

"Ma'am?" enquired Maya, glancing up at her superior.

Ritsuko just pulled back, shaking her head dismissively, "It's nothing. Just forget about it."

"What do _you_ think about it?" asked Misato quietly to Gohan.

"About what?" mumbled Gohan, who was still staring up at the main screen at the Angel, completely dismissing the conversations about the Third Child's synchronisation ratio.

"His synchronisation ratio," elaborated Misato in an obvious tone.

"What about it?" murmured the Saiyan with disinterest.

"_What about it?"_ echoed the Major with disbelief, "Do you not see the _slight_ difference between the synch levels of the other two pilots and Shinji's?"

Gohan gave the slightest shrug of his shoulders, "I suppose…but if you'll look, even Asuka's has begun to go on the increase as of late, she's bordering on 82 herself and even Rei's has seen a bit of a jump lately. So what if Shinji's just happened to master synchronisation with the EVA a bit sooner than the others?"

"Master... his EVA?" echoed Misato curiously.

"Synchronisation is a skill like any other, ma'am, and like all skills they can be mastered," said Gohan.

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it. But synchronisation with an EVA isn't like playing a musical instrument or playing chess, it's linking a person's _mind_ to what is essentially another living thing."

"So that's why you're worried," said Gohan, turning his attention from the screen momentarily to regard Misato, "The better he becomes, the closer his mind becomes with EVA, and you don't quite _trust it,_ do you?"

Misato looked away, a slight snarl pulling at her face, "You haven't _seen_ that thing when it loses control, have you?" Gohan's reply was merely a small shake of his head, having already returned his attention to the screen, "Then feel lucky, because if it ever happens again, you will _know_ why I don't trust that _thing._"

Gohan's brow knitted slightly in thought, 'So… I guess besides the mind of the EVA there's also a beast somewhere in the mix too, responding to the sub-consciousness of both the pilot and the mind within the EVA's core.' The Saiyan made a mental note to look further into this 'Berserker' anomaly.

"I've got a clear shot," came Shinji's voice over the communications link, his fist gripped tightly around the trigger mechanism, "Should I take it?"

Misato's eyes narrowed in thought for a second, staring at the Angel as she weighed the options.

"_Well_?" whispered Shinji impatiently, as if worrying the Angel might hear him.

"Unit-01…" began Misato, hesitating.

Silence fell as, yet again, time seemed to slow down…

The tension in the air built up as Misato's fist clenched.

The entire bridge crew held their breath.

Shinji's teeth became visible as he snarled, his hand clenched on the trigger, which was currently set on induction mode.

Gohan's head turned to face Misato.

The other two EVAs began to move into position.

Shinji's eye's narrowed.

And he pulled the trigger...

Needless to say, things then took a slight turn for the worse.

They had tried to pull Unit-01 out of the darkness that appeared underneath. Both EVAs 00 and 02 dug in as the purple EVA sank deeper. In the end even Goku jumped in as he tried to grab hold of the Unit, but found even his instant transmission power being locked out somehow by Leliel's power. In the end, the battle was lost.

But the Saiyan's resistance had given the Angel something to think about…

-Z-

Leliel was not an entity restricted to four dimensions, indeed it was the need to understand corporeal entities that had led to its acquisition of the Shadow of Lilith –or EVA Unit-01 as it was commonly known.

The Angel of course knew _of_ concepts such as time, but really had no use for them. Leliel saw space and time in all its majesty, all that is or was, in every space, dimension and across every parallel. The sea of all that is, was and could be was forever spread out before it, and therefore it had no concept of waiting or moving. As far as Leliel was concerned, it merely _was_.

If the Angel had any other concerns other than the reunion with the Adam, then it may have come to appreciate its great gifts and unique view on reality a little better. But regardless, it would reach out and join with the father soon.

'Soon' , now there was another new concept for the Angel. It was a concept Leliel needed to know, along with distance in space. These were reasons it needed the Shadow of Lilith, for the mind within had the knowledge it needed.

Another problem had emerged, however. There was a new factor in the equation. The entity which had attempted in vain to stop the acquisition of Lilith's Shadow had been an entity of great power, and should the Angel make itself tangible and emerge into four dimensional space, as would be necessary in order to join with the father, then it would surely be felled by that power.

Leliel wasn't like other Angels; it didn't resort to brute strength or invasion. It had a very _special_ defence mechanism.

It _acquired_ things.

That was why it had allowed itself to appear where it had: it needed the Shadow to proceed. And by that same logic, new resources would have to be acquired.

Leliel looked –if _looked_ could indeed be classed as the right word- at the Eldritch being that had tried to stop it. It saw the creature in all its form; past and future, for they were all the same to Leliel. It noted idly that it was different in other ways, in that the being's past was heavily trenched in another level, in another…_dimension_, was the correct term, Leliel realised.

The Angel looked through the being's past. It needed something strong enough, something that could cleanse it.

After an infinitesimal period of contemplation, Leliel selected two possible acquisitions, two other eldritch entities. There were others, stronger ones, but Leliel had to assess the possibility that its acquisitions may destroy it before they got round to taking care of the…_Saiyans_, yes, that was the word.

Another new concept.

Leliel reached out a tendril of itself, slipping between the cracks of reality, through time and space itself, selecting the right instance of reality.

It used less energy removing the entity from its current space-time event if there was little action or impact caused by that event to follow the acquisition i.e. so long as it didn't affect the future from that point too severely, as this caused friction and made it difficult to pull back again.

Leliel therefore chose the instant just as its targets were cleansed; _killed_.

One of Leliel's acquisitions had such little mass, as Leliel knew from observing its past that all it needed of it was a single cell. It therefore chose the last one, the last nucleus of its being, a mere picosecond before it was swallowed by a rapture of blue energy.

Leliel absorbed this cell into itself, holding it within the great void that was its body. Almost instantly, Leliel felt that single cell begin to stir…_swell_…and then began dividing.

Leliel would've been pleased if it were capable of feeling it.

Leliel then turned its attention to the other. It was a prime example of the Saiyan species, one that Leliel knew would be the perfect distraction, for Leliel could understand obsession when it saw it, and this acquisition seemed particularly obsessed with destroying the entity Leliel had come close to encountering.

Leliel sent out it's tendril to the right moment: the acquisition was caught on a trail of blue light, being carried out of the planet's atmosphere and to inevitable destruction, screaming and cursing to its last breath. Already the being's body was being affected by the vacuum of space, but Leliel needed it intact, for this one it realised was not capable of regenerating. Leliel encapsulated the flailing form, causing it to vanish from its own universe entirely.

And so Leliel drew its second acquisition back into its body, holding it in another instance of itself as it did with the Shadow and the other creature.

There was a moment of silence as the newcomer realised that it still lived, and that it was now floating in darkness.

It didn't react kindly.

Leliel then realised that it had made a terrible mistake.

A mathematically insignificant amount of time before the newcomer could shatter the contained pocket of space apart in a flash of green light, Leliel froze it, nullifying the fourth dimension entirely and removing the orb of energy that had been about to explode into another universe, said orb of energy then proceeded to blow up a parallel Earth and kill five billion people instantly, but that wasn't any real concern of Leliel's.

It looked at its acquisition with what could be abstractly interpreted as fear. It couldn't keep the form contained forever; its power was too great and growing still. It was truly an abomination, but then again, Leliel only needed to hold it for a brief time.

Little did the Angel know, that it was not the troublemaking prisoner that it should've been paying heed to, but to the other acquisition, which had already restored itself to the point of having consciousness, and was already contemplating its new surroundings with great interest…

-Z-

_Meanwhile.._.

"Way to go, _mom!_" groaned Shinji sarcastically as he drummed his fingers of the side of the entry plug in frustration, holding his head in his other palm. Since he was alone and was sure the internal recorder was inoperative, he had decided to actually _speak _as opposed to just thinking the words.

'_You can't go and blame this on me!' _retorted Yui with exasperation.

"I can _try_!" he snapped back, sitting up again.

'_You were the one who pulled the stupid trigger!'_

'_You_ should've stopped me then, shouldn't you!' he retorted.

'_Oh, be serious!'_

"_**NEVER!**__" _he declared with mock triumph.

Shinji then took the only available option available to him; he cracked up into a fit of laughter.

'_This is no time for jokes!'_ complained the good doctor, trying to stop a reluctant fit of giggles from overtaking her. Sharing emotions really did have its downsides.

Yui sighed , '_Talk about laughter being infectious...'_

Shinji wiped a tear from his eye, "Ahh, seriously though, we've got to do something."

'_I know.'_

"I only have a few hours left. That is unless NERV tries something as _clever_ as usual," he said, his tone implying that whatever NERV planned probably wouldn't be classed as clever by even the broadest stretch of the term.

'_Nah; they'll probably just try and blow the Angel AND us to hell and back.' _said Yui, her voice holding a bit too much Sinicism for Shinji's taste.

Shinji rolled his eyes, "Great. So I have a choice of either dying a slow, agonising death by freezing and asphyxiation, or a nice quick one by N2 mine, " the pilot let out a long, tired sigh, "…and the day started _so_ well."

'_Don't worry. __Nothing will happen to you. I'll be protecting you, now and always. Just give me time to prepare,' _said Yui in her usual soothing way, '_Here's an interesting thought to pass the time though; it would seem that the Angel has been attempting to probe your mind for the past little while. I wouldn't worry about it though; since you're synched with the EVA so well, it really can't tell us apart. It seems to just be gleaming impressions and surface thoughts, as if it's just trying to understand us. A shame you can't sense its childlike confusion over the way our minds work, it's actually quite amusing. Either way, all you need to do is wait. For now... get comfortable, little one.'_

Shinji could swear the area around him in the entry plug seemed to fill with a peculiar feeling of warmth and kindness, as if some invisible force were wrapping itself around him and cradling him gently, "I feel so tired..." he whispered, leaning back.

'_T__hen be calm for now, Shinji,' _said Yui, not wanting to let him know that this was most likely due to mild oxygen starvation, '_I'll awake you when it's time, but for now just... Relax.'_

Shinji was already curled up in a haze of drowsiness as he murmured, "Times like this I wish I had my SDAT player," he found himself chuckling ironically.

'_what is it?'_ asked Yui, her voice now barely a whisper.

"It's nothing. I just realised though, I've not got round to laying back and listening to that old thing for over two weeks now...guess I've just been too busy."

'_With what?_' enquired Yui softly as she invisibly cradled her child, letting him relax but talking to keep him conscious, knowing the dangers of slipping into a coma when the oxygen in the blood gets too low.

Shinji managed a shrug, "In no particular order? School… Girls... Espionage... You know...the usual." These were the last words he said, before slipping off into a deep, warmth clouded trance.

-Z-

"_Excuse me?_" demanded Gohan with a note of incredulity, finding it hard to believe the order Dr Akagi had just given him.

"_Look,"_ said Ritsuko, "I know it's not the dreamiest of outcomes, but even if we went down the avenue of asking the Saiyans to intervene, that would most likely only be to ask them in assisting in exactly the same way! You saw Goku try to stop the absorption of Unit-01. He _failed!_"

Gohan took a quick breath to calm himself, trying to ignore the tone of voice she used when talking about his father, "And _you're_ assuming that it's a sure thing that the internal dimensions of the Angel's body are anything less than infinite! The _only _thing we'll succeed in is obliterating Unit-01 and its pilot!"

Ritsuko scowled, pulling herself to full height in order to evenly square up to her subordinate, "Based on our energy readings, our calculations suggest that the explosive yield _will_ be sufficient to destroy the Angel's body _and_ acceptably recover the lost EVA Unit!"

Maya was now backed away against the wall between the two, her clipboard gripped tightly against her; as if afraid she'd be diced in the verbal crossfire. She had seen her junior co-worker serious in the past, but never had she seen him just plain and simply _furious. _And quite frankly, she was scared to hell of him.

Gohan took a step closer to her, "Recover the EVA, yeah, _possibly._ But you know _just_ as well as I do that the pilot would be hit like a bean being tossed about inside a can caught in a tornado. Even if he somehow manages to generate an AT field on time, he still wouldn't stand a chance in _hell_ of surviving a shockwave like that!"

Gohan was quite literally simmering with anger, and anyone who truly knew him would tell the person in front of him that it was rarely a wise idea to make Gohan too mad. The fact that Ritsuko had just asked him to plot and coordinate the bombing run for the assault, effectively being the one to paint the bull's-eye on Shinji's head, was nothing short of _nauseating_ to him.

Ritsuko was shaking with frustration. She ground her teeth, pausing to be _extremely _careful as to how she worded her reply, -the result of just blurting it out earlier had a less than desirable outcome, the still-stinging impact of Major Katsuragi's palm on her cheek attested to that. She let her shoulders sag, taking a long, calming breath, "_Look…_ our priority is the destruction of the Angel and the recovery of the EVA. The pilot's survival is..." Ritsuko paused again, tearing through her mind at top speed for the best way to put it.

Gohan regarded her with such an icy glare that it mirrored the one he'd worn when facing off against Cell. Ritsuko shuddered despite herself as she saw the dark smile on his face, "Say it, Ritsuko Akagi…" he said, his voice far too calm, "Say _Inconsequential._"

"Look..." She breathed, turning away and feeling like a sheep in front of a wolf for reasons she couldn't logically comprehend, "Just do as you're told, _alright?_" Gohan's smile was now long gone, he _wasn't _however moving even as the doctor moved off.

"_No…_" he said, his voice low and calm. The doctor halted, shoulders flinching as if a gunshot had gone off behind her.

Ritsuko, who now had her fists clenched in her pockets, spoke back without turning round, "We _have_ to prioritise here, there are certain things that just _have_ to be done."

"_Are_ there now?" asked the teen mildly. He'd remembered what Shinji said, remembered who he was. He looked at Ritsuko and remembered the way he'd looked at Cell after his Ascended Saiyan powers had been unleashed. The feeling was the same. There was no fear, no reverence of the other person. There was just that feeling of them seeming so… small.

"You will do as you're told, _lieutenant,_" said the doctor slowly, her tone one of barely contained anger.

"_No,_" he repeated, his tone purveying the same amusement one may have if they were toying with a kitten.

"Do you honestlythink that I _want_-"

Gohan rolled his eyes, cutting her off, "_Jeez,_ just what kind of doctor are you? Seriously, I would just _love_ to see the Hippocratic Oath _you_ took!"

Ritsuko rounded slowly on the young man, her eyes darker than Maya had ever seen them before, "For your information," she said in a seething tone, "I'm not that kind of doctor, I didn't take an _oath._"

"Really?" asked Gohan mockingly, "I am _so_ shocked."

Suddenly, Gohan's eyes narrowed at her, leaning in closer as if to inspect something. The furrow of confusion on his brow immediately switched to amused realisation.

"W-what?" asked Ritsuko, stepping back a pace.

Suddenly the young lieutenant laughed softly, "By the looks of it... I'm not the _only_ one who shows -or certainly _showed_, opposition to your plan." He chuckled again, eyes trained on the red mark on her cheek. He hummed, as if thinking, "I'm going to guess…the Major, right?" he asked, his smile widening a noticeable fraction.

"_Lieutenant!_" The doctor barked, her control finally snapping, fists clenched openly at her sides. She then said, with undisguised rage shaking her voice, "You may consider yourself relieved of active duty until further notice."

Gohan began to turn away, giving nothing more than a derogatory "Pfft!" in response. He then halted for a second, regarding the Doctor out the corner of his eye, "why don't you just go off and find someone _low_ enough to blindly carry out that order, since you obviously didn't have the guts to do it yourself." He then headed off towards the door at the end of the steel corridor.

Maya was now pressed flat against the wall, trying to look as small as possible, stunned to silence by her associate's attitude. What she found more shocking however, wasn't the revelation that he had such a streak in him... It was how much more she somehow found herself _drawn_ to him as a result.

Once she was sure the younger officer was leaving, Ritsuko turned to her female associate, "Maya..." Ritsuko began, but never got to finish.

Maya let out a sudden gasp, time seemed to slow and her vision almost became tunnelled as she saw the young man at the end of the corridor hesitate suddenly with his hand on the door handle. His eyes flicked to her out of his peripheral.

Ritsuko hesitated, seeing the sudden flash of sheer horror that swept across her face. The young lieutenant looked as if she'd actually pointed a gun at her head, as opposed to being about to issue an order.

Maya was looking at her superior, her eyes however were flicking sideways to steal a glance at her junior, who still hadn't moved and was hesitating at the doorway. He hadn't actually turned around, he was just standing there, his hand resting atop the door handle.

'_Please...' _pleaded Maya mentally, 'just go! Don't be here; don't stand there as if you're looking right into my eyes!' Unfortunately for her, Gohan had not picked up the power of telepathy.

Maya didn't want to dirty herself in her co-worker's eyes, but neither did want to disappoint the woman whom she respected almost to the point of adoration. And so, in the instant Gohan's head tilted ever-so slightly aroundenough to make full contact with his dark eyes; as if judging her total being with that strange, dark stare, Maya did the only thing she could.

She ran.

Shaking her head furiously, the lieutenant pushed herself away from the wall, "I- I'm sorry, ma'am," stammered the lieutenant, "I h-have to... _excuse me!_" And with that, the young woman quickly turned about and fled off in the opposite direction, clipboard hugged against her and leaving a very stumped Ritsuko Akagi behind.

Dr Akagi let out a quiet groan, slumping against the steel wall behind her. She pocketed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

As the doctor hung her head, she noticed the shadow stretching across the floor in front of her. She glanced up at the form of Gohan, who was silhouetted against the natural light pouring in from the open doorway he was leaning against, his eyes trained on her.

Ritsuko pulled herself back to full height, keeping her eyes locked with his. It should be noted that if Doctor Ritsuko Akagi had a meter that measured her frustration and anger, then its needle would be damned sure in the red by now.

Gohan cocked an eyebrow up slightly.

And then he smiled.

"Not your day, is it?"

Ritsuko's snarled with unrepressed rage as she gripped her clipboard at the corner, "Get the _hell..._**OUT!"** She shouted, twisting round and flinging her clipboard directly at the tech, who in turn swiftly pushed himself away from the door, twirled about, and nimbly swung the door shut between them.

Gohan's ears were greeted by the sound of the clipboard striking steel, accompanied by the fluttering of the attached papers scattering in all directions.

Ritsuko quickly regained her composure, yet winced as her ears were treated to her subordinate on the other side of the door giving a last, "Yes, ma'am!" in a far-too cheery voice.

The doctor bent down and collected the papers, clenching them into a balled fist and then, expelling the last of her built up frustration, she swung round and slammed her fist as hard as she could into the metal wall opposite.

"_Shit,_" Ritsuko hissed, pain shooting up her hand as a small trail of blood ran down the metal wall. She'd lost her composure, and the last word along with it…

The doctor leaned forward, the metal surface icy cold against her flushed forehead. She would of course have to be the one to coordinate the attack.

She also knew it was going to be one of the nights where she wouldn't be able to look at herself in the mirror.

-Z-

Gohan was standing outside; suddenly feeling shocked at his own actions as it kicked in what he had just done. That was what he got for letting his temper get the better of him. Fears over consequences began to rise for a second, but then he found himself repeating words he had heard not hours earlier.

"Remember who I am..." he mulled audibly, frowning in thought for a moment. A broad smile then pulled at his face as he walked off towards the area overlooking the shadow that dwarfed most of Tokyo-3.

-Z-

"What do we do then?" asked Gohan, cell phone tucked between his shoulder and ear as he sat cross legged on the ledge, the view beyond dominated by the field of black which was Leliel's body.

Goku breathed out on the other end of the receiver, then spoke, "For now, there's nothing we _can_ do."

"_What?" _snapped Gohan, "You mean we're just going to go along with NERV's plan?" he asked, more than a note of disbelief in his voice, "What about Shinji?"

"Don't worry, Gohan. There's not a chance we'll let NERV do that to Shinji. I made a promise to do all I can to keep him safe, remember? And you're right; he _wouldn't_ stand a chance of surviving something like that."

Gohan breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment he had thought his dad had taken leave of his senses, "So we just _wait?_"

"Yes," replied Goku slowly, as if deep in thought.

"Dad?" asked Gohan, knowing there was more to it than that.

Goku hummed in thought, as if thinking how best to put it, "It's just... I get the feeling that there's something we've overlooked here, and I keep coming back to just _waiting_. I'm sorry I can't come up with better... It's just... an _instinct._"

Gohan nodded once slowly, "Alright, dad... If it's _your_ instinct, then that's enough for me."

Goku couldn't help but smile on the other end, "Thanks, Gohan. That means a lot to me. Stay on your toes. And, Gohan?"

"Yes, Dad?"

"Stay out of trouble..." said Goku, a light tone in his voice.

"You know me…"

Goku chuckled, "Yes I do. Just…stay sharp, Gohan. And stay safe..."

"You too, dad..." replied Gohan before hanging up the small flip-phone and slipping it back inside his pocket.

After taking a breath to soak in the situation, the young Demi-Saiyan pushed himself up and took a few steps forward. He rested his hands on the barrier in front of him and leaned forward slightly, peering down into the dark void.

And then he waited...

-Z-

Misato was strolling idly among the command vehicles when her brow furrowed in confusion, recognising the form of her Assistant director from behind. The Major herself had little else to do other than wander about worrying ever since being relieved of duty. She approached the lieutenant curiously.

"Hello, ma'am," said the lieutenant suddenly, not looking up from the unreflective darkness.

Misato faltered, 'Maya was right; you really can't sneak up on this guy.'

The Major sighed, leaning forwards and taking up a position identical to the young man beside her, "Shouldn't you be _working away _right now?" she asked, leaning down and resting her cheek against the metal pole to regard the lieutenant.

"I could say the same," he replied, glancing down at her out the corner of his eye, "You got nothing better to do either?"

"Nope," replied the Major, looking up at him with an almost childish pout, "Haven't you heard?" she half-scoffed, "_Doctor_ Akagi has taken control of the operation. Apparently my personal- W_hat,_" she asked, frowning as Gohan cut her off with a laugh, "What is it?"

"So... It _was_ you then," said Gohan with amusement, "I thought so. After all, who else could it have been?"

"Was me what?" enquired Misato in confusion.

"I'm talking about that not-so-complimenting red welt on the good doctor's cheek. A bit _lacking in tact,_ was she?"

Gohan didn't need to fully face the woman to know when she was sneering, "You _could _say that. And what about you? What're you doing out here all 'standing sentinel'?"

"_M__e? _Ohh I've been _'removed from duty until further notice'_" said Gohan, airquoting the words as he rolled his eyes, "And so here I am... out here…with nothing better to do."

Misato was now regarding the younger officer with her full attention, "Removed from duty?" she asked with a frown, "Why?"

"Let's just say I was also somewhat less than tactful…" muttered the Saiyan.

Misato's eyes widened in shock, "You mean you actually-"

Gohan interrupted, shaking his head, "No, no, no, not at all!"

"Then why would you-" The major cut herself off as she narrowed her eyes, a wry smile on her face, "My, my, have you been insubordinate to a superior officer, young lieutenant?" she asked, clearly amused.

"Oooh, you could say that... to a point anyways."

"And which point is that?"

"To the point where Ritsuko hurled her clipboard at me," replied Gohan, grinning.

Misato couldn't help but laugh heartily at the mental image of her college friend losing it to the point of smoke coming out her ears.

Regaining control, she wiped a tear from her eye, "Ahh, thanks..." she said, smiling.

"For what?"

"Cheering me up a bit. I really needed that." Said Misato, smiling weakly.

"Any time, Major Katsuragi."

Misato's eyes narrowed in thought, "Hmm… I, ah, think I'd prefer it if you'd just call me...Misato."

Gohan smiled inclining his head curtly, "Will do..."

"Yeah, cause... It's weird, y'know, 'cause you're more like a _little brother_ than a _subordinate._"

Gohan laughed rubbing the back of his head, blushing slightly, "I'll take that as a compliment."

Misato grinned, "Please do..." she said and turned back forward, her hands gripping the railing again, that smile evaporating as her eyes fell to the black mass below, "Funny..."

"Hmm?"

"Not so long ago, I never would've guessed Shinji capable of some of the things he's done. When we first met he was like some kind of frightened animal, cowering from the world and just doing things when he was told or made to. He's changed so much. It even got to the point where I almost felt dependant on _him._ I guess that's why I lashed out when Ritsuko said his life wasn't even an issue."

Gohan was now regarding her curiously as the air fell silent around them.

"Sorry..." She said quietly, breaking the silence.

"What for?"

"For lumping my problems on you; it's embarrassing..."

"I don't think so. Problem these days is, people _don't_ speak their feelings; they bottle them up, pushing them further and further down, with one more negative thought after another piling on top of it, until it slowly begins to eat away at you."

Misato suddenly smiled, "My, you're awfully philosophical today."

"Sorry..." Gohan said, grinning.

"It's okay, but what about you then?"

"Hmm?"

"Well_…_you seem to be a really good listener, but you never seem to volunteer to talk about _yourself_ very much."

"Are you saying I'm a hypocrite?" Asked Gohan, a small smile on his face.

"No, nothing like that. It's just interesting, that's all."

Gohan shrugged, "I guess that's just 'cause I've not really got anything I need to get off my chest, _well…"_ he paused, a wry grin spreading across his face, "maybe _one_ thing."

"_Oh?_" asked Misato, leaning closer, "And what might that be?"

Gohan tugged at the neck of his uniform, "Ahh…I _think_ I'd prefer to keep that little one to myself...for now, anyways."

Misato's eyes narrowed at him, "Is this to do with that 'third self' you were talking about the other day?"

"What?"

"When we were discussing the three aspects of the MAGI; you compared yourself to it, but you held back, _didn't you_?"

It took Gohan a few seconds, but it was then that he realised he'd seen that same accusatorytwinkle in the eye of another once before. It was in the eye of Videl, back when he first started high school and she'd seen him in his transformed state earlier that day.

"So, you remembered that, did you?" he asked, trying not to sound nervous.

"It's my job, you know; to know about the people under me. Plus, it wasn't exactly _difficult_ considering it was one of the _only_ times you'd actually talked about yourself."

"Y-yeah, I guess I do like to keep to myself a bit."

The Saiyan had studied well, memorising countless new skills since he started 'working' for NERV, but there was just one thing he kept procrastinating about smoothing out: his cover story.

"Well?" Misato asked, not noticing the mild way Gohan winced.

"W-well, what?"

"_Talk_..." She said, steepling her fingers on the railing in front of her and resting her head on top of them, glancing sideways up at him.

"About me?"

"Yup," nodded Misato on top her hands, "I'm sure you probably know a lot about your other co-workers because of all those psychological profiles you had to have to sift through and retype in your old job, but there never was much in yours, besides of course a general description of an ordinary, average, well rounded guy, talk about a _bland_ report, and like I said, I like to know, so..." she said, prompting him to continue.

'jeez, Bulma put me in my last job precisely_ because_ it was out of the way! I never expected to be promoted to a _spot-light_ position.' thought Gohan dismally before answering, "What would you like to know then?"

Misato pursed her lips, looking away and humming in thought before looking back, "How about girls? You got a girlfriend back home?"

"B-back home?" Stammered the Saiyan.

"_You know_; back in Germany."

Gohan exhaled a sigh, "_Right_, back in…'Germany'. _Well_..." he said as his mind tracked recent events back home and their accompanying unpleasantness "Well, there was this _one _girl I'd been going out with, but..."

"But?" prompted Misato, but her woman's instincts already gave her a pretty good idea as to what the 'but' he was referring to was.

"Well... Let's just say we hadn't been getting along too well lately. You could say that was the reason I accepted the 'transfer' to NERV here in Japan in the first place" he said and, as usual in these situations, he was telling the dead on truth. Although he _did_ miss Videl as he'd already admitted to his dad, to say thing's hadn't been going too smoothly with Hercule's daughter would be an understatement. Arguments as of late between them had been escalating from reasons as small as times meeting up to differences in social class, differences in fighting power, and many just stemming from Gohan's total lack of ability when dealing with members of the fairer sex. Their most recent meeting had ended up with Gohan getting a surprising smack to his right cheek and a furious Videl swearing (both in the promising and cursing sense) that she 'never wanted to see the spiky haired jerk ever again' and this is omitting the cursing that followed as she walked off.

It was strange, Gohan realised. The conversation had only been about the price of gas.

"So, you came to Japan to get away from it all?" concluded Misato.

"That was one of the reasons…"

"You find it much different from home?"

Gohan laughed humourlessly, "Hah, _yeah…_ it's like... being in a completely different world." And although he was of course speaking metaphorically, it somehow felt good coming out and finally saying those words. He couldn't help but smile widely.

"And this girl," asked Misato, "do you still like her?"

Gohan opened his mouth to reply, a stab of pain hit him inside for reasons he didn't understand. He quickly looked away.

Misato knew women often reacted with scorn and dismissal about old flames and their lingering feelings towards them –she herself was particularly guilty of this, but men didn't have much of a defence mechanism against that pain. She pushed herself up, "I'm sorry. That was a bit too intrusive. Forget I asked."

Gohan shook his head, taking a calming breath, "No, it's fine. Just…not ready to answer that question yet."

Misato chose to quickly change the subject, "So, if your parents were Japanese and German, which do you consider yourself?"

"I don't know," replied Gohan, "I've always been a bit of a half-breed, I guess. I wonder if I'll _ever_ be able to fit in as I please..." lamented Gohan, his dark brown, almost black eyes staring into the distance at nothing in particular, not realising he was _actually_ vocalising every word.

Gohan glanced sideways, suddenly noticing his commanding officer smiling warmly at him, "W-what is it?"

The major shook her head, "I was just thinking, you're profile doesn't do you _nearly_ enough credit."

"I'm think I'm going to take that as another compliment," said Gohan, smiling weakly.

"Again, please do..." said Misato, smiling with a predatorial glint in her eyes, "_although_... I might just have to add the part that you're 'available' to your profile, though."

Gohan's mouth tightened as he blushed profoundly "I'm not gonna let you tease me, not gonna work..." he said, hoping as if saying it would make it true.

The smile on her face turned into a full blown smirk, "You asked for it..."

"Hah," scoffed Gohan, "Do your worst," he said, holding his head up high, secretly just happy that he'd managed to cheer the Operations Director up, if only a bit.

-Z-

Goten had been circling over the area when he spotted the unmistakeable form of the First Child standing by herself below.

Rei had been content with just standing on her own as she usually did, dwelling on her inner thoughts. However, each time she tried, she ended going down a path of sheer irrationality, especially when she knew (or at lease was relatively sure) what it was that would have to be done.

'I...am not in the wrong. Unit-01 must be recovered, but Shinji will most likely...' she trailed off again, her breath catching in her thought each time she tried to finish the thought. Her orders to neutralise the angel's AT field along with Unit-02 were simple enough. However, Rei also realised that this made her the actual key to the death of the one she had fallen for; the one she had practically pledged her allegiance to. This made her, to say the least... _depressed_; a feeling she had recently learned to loathe.

'Is this how Shinji feels when he is depressed? I must make this feeling dissipate somehow,_' _she contemplated. To say that she was sensitive to her emotions (now that she was aware she _had_ them) would be an understatement.

Suddenly however, her rather murky thought processes were shattered like glass when an upside down face abruptly descended into view several inches in front of her with a loud accompanying, "Hiya, Rei!"

The First Child staggered back a few steps in shock at the instantaneous appearance of the youngest Saiyan.

Rei exhaled a silent breath, "Hello, Goten-kun," replied Rei formally, somehow managing to completely ignore the fact that he was hovering upside down with his arms folded.

"What's wrong?" asked the young warrior, tilting his head slightly.

"..." Rei said nothing and merely looked onwards beyond the boy at the black expanse behind them. Goten followed her gaze, rotating about in mid-air. He oriented himself the right way up, scratching his head.

"Hmm, _that_..." he said, staring at the massive black shadow that was Leliel's body whilst floating backwards to the ground next to the stoic pilot.

Silence descended for over five minutes with Goten happily rocking back and forth on his heels, humming cheerily, "I-" Rei began, pausing. Goten stopped mid-note to look up at her expectantly.

"What is it, Rei?" asked the little Saiyan.

Ayanami continued staring ahead as she slowly spoke, "I...don't want to do it, but I must...mustn't I?" She asked, still looking into the Angel's depths.

"_Nah,_" said the little Saiyan with cheerful dismissiveness, jumping up onto the low guard rail and balancing on it playfully, "you don't _have_ to do anything, silly. You can just say no."

"I _can't,_ it...was an order," said Rei unsurely, her gaze falling to the ground.

Goten glanced down at her confusedly as he swung round, almost losing balance before continuing to pace along the railing, the Angel's void precariously below.

Goten stopped, balancing on one hand, "_So?_" he enquired, confused by the girl's quandary. As far as he was concerned, you could always say no, unless you mom said it, anyways. Then you always had to do it.

Else you didn't get pudding.

Rei opened her mouth to speak, but her mind froze in the search for an answer. All she could do was suddenly reach out and grasp the impish warrior in her arms as he wobbled again, almost losing balance and in danger of falling into the shadow below.

Goten cocked his head around and up to glance at the First Child questioningly as she continued to keep her arms wrapped around him, not that she was holding him up in the air, considering the boy had strictly been hovering the entire time he was on the railing, but still she gripped onto him tightly, staring still down into the shadow below, her slender arms trembling around his small form.

"Please..." Goten heard the child whisper hoarsely, "Be more… c_areful,_" she choked as she gripped the small Saiyan tightly and Goten noticed her shoulders were shaking.

Even Goten could see what was wrong with the red eyed girl as he felt her grip tremble around him. He was shocked as she clenched her eyes closed and three warm tears impacted off his cheek.

The little Saiyan looked up at her with wide, sad eyes. He slipped his arms free of hers and did his best to hug her back, resting his head comfortingly against her.

Whatever burst of strength she got to grip the younger child dissipated after a few silent sobs causing her grip to slacken on the boy. Goten's hold slackened also, allowing him to float up slightly in order to put a small arm around her (or as far as he could reach anyways) and pat her softly on the back of the head.

"I..." the albino girl managed to choke out, "..._hate_ this feeling."

"Which one?" Goten enquired curiously.

"Confusion...sadness... _loss_" She said slowly as she attempted to give her feelings words.

"Loss?" The little Saiyan echoed, cocking his head curiously at her, "Nah, Shinji's going to be okay!" said Goten in his usual optimistic way.

"I don't understand; how could you be so sure?" enquired Rei in a whisper.

"_Because,_" exclaimed Goten, "my dad _said_ so."

"Then, how could Goku-san know. He already tried-"

"He doesn't know _how_ he knows, he just does," cut in Goten, shrugging his shoulders, "It's... Umm... what's the word?" Goten paused, chewing his fingernail as he dug into his vocabulary.

"Instinct?"

"Yeah, yeah! That! And my dad has better instinct than _anyone_! If my daddy says he's going to be alright, then he's going to be alright!"

"Then I hope his instinct turns out to be accurate," said Rei quietly.

"Uh huh," nodded Goten, "My dad's _never_ wrong with this kinda thing! So Shinji's gonna be fine, Rei, you just watch!" Goten said, leaning forward and resting his cheek against hers in the same way he would with his mom. Rei gently brought her arms under the child to hold him against her in a way she found instinctively natural.

"Thank you, Goten-kun…" she whispered as Goten rested his arms around the back of her neck.

"S'alright." Murmured Goten, leaving Rei to silently pray to whatever deities that may or may not exist that the Saiyan was right in his optimism.

-Z-

"It was his own stupid fault!" ranted Asuka as she paced back and forth, "And he got what was coming to him!"

"I never said I was blaming _you_," sighed Trunks, leaning back with his arms behind his head as he sat atop the command vehicle. He opened one eye to glance down at Asuka, who had stopped and folded her arms and was fuming silently, "Wait, are you saying Shinji _deserved_ that?"

"No!" snapped Asuka, slicing the air with a hand. She averted her eyes off to the side, "Never...said that..." she murmured, flopping back against the vehicle below the Saiyan.

Trunks exhaled, realising he _was _being a bit harsh, "Well there wasn't anything _any_ of us could have done. Even Goten's dad couldn't stop it from happening, and he nearly tore the EVA's arm off trying."

"Are you trying to console me or something?" asked Asuka, glancing up at Trunks with her arms crossed.

Trunks huffed and looked away, folding his arms also, "Got nothing _else_ to do," grumbled the Saiyan, turning back forwards to regard the black expanse, "I _hate _all this waiting..."

"Why don't you _do_ something about it then?" demanded Asuka.

"Goten's dad said for me and Goten to wait; so I wait," a snarl appeared on Trunks' face as his frustration rose, "wait_, wait, __**WAIT**__!_" he shouted, punctuating each word by slamming a fist into the top of the command unit, leaving a fist-sized indentation each time.

Asuka, shocked, swung round when she heard the Saiyan vent his frustration, mouthing a silent apology to the technician who had poked her head out to see what the noise was. Only now was it evident to Asuka that the young Saiyan's frustration and need to do something probably matched her own.

The pilot cocked her head, regarding the Saiyan curiously, "But why; why would he want you to wait?" she asked, calm for the first time since Shinji had vanished.

"I dunno," said Trunks, shrugging his shoulders and dropping down onto the asphalt, "he just said he had 'a feeling the situation would resolve itself', whatever that means…"

"_What_?" demanded Asuka incredulously, "Is he hoping the Angel might just miraculously _choke_ on its meal of Test Type EVA with Side of Shinji?"

Trunks glanced at Asuka before looking away. The girl realised that the boy actually looked down for the first time since they'd met, "Dunno," He said quietly, walking over to the guard rail and leaning forward, resting his head glumly against it, "just gonna wait…"

Asuka pushed off from her position against the command unit and, like many of her associates around the temporary command complex, strolled over and rested up against the bar, staring out over the sea of black that filled her view. She glanced downwards and to the side slightly at her short companion, who looked utterly deflated and depressed over the situation. She lightly clipped him once on the back of the head, "J_eez_, will you cheer up already! You're acting like you're the last person on the planet. Stop acting all depressed; it's infectious!"

Trunks rubbed the back of his head and looked up at her in mild surprise. He couldn't help but grin, "And I came to cheer _you_ up. Boy did this turn around on me."

Asuka blinked in surprise, "You came to do _what_?"

Trunks pushed off the rail, startled, holding his hands up defensively. A small blush formed on his cheeks, "D-don't get me wrong or anything," he stammered, dropping his hands to his sides and looking away with a pout, "I mean, I still hate you and all…"

Asuka breathed out, "_Good._ I still hate you too..." she said, nodding down at him, unable to hold back a smile as she ruffled his mop of pink hair.

-Z-

Leliel was in trouble.

It wasn't the frozen Saiyan beast that posed a problem, nor was it Lilith's shadow. The problem was the third 'acquisition'. It had begun to act in a very unpredictable manner.

The Angel knew the creature's mind was complex and calculating. Its intellect was genius-level when compared to the beast and the young Lilim. Even the mind at the core of the shadow did not hold this level of cold, dark intelligence. But it was not the creature's mind that posed a problem.

It was what was happening to its body.

The creature had _changed_.

It had all begun as Leliel had predicted: The creature had begun to regenerate from that single cell, growing and restoring. Its power had grown exponentially from how it was before its near destruction. But that was not an issue; Leliel had taken that into account. The issue was the fact that whilst in the Sea of Dirac, the regenerating creature was essentially submerged in the Angel's very body. What Leliel _hadn't_ calculated, however, was the creature's ability to absorb in part of its surroundings during regeneration in order to adapt to whatever environment it may emerge in afterwards.

The creature had therefore absorbed part of Leliel's very self.

This was a problem.

Already Leliel had lost the ability to see into the creature's mind. It was as if it were blending itself into the background, becoming like the Angel itself. Leliel had felt it probe into the other two instances of itself, examining the captive Saiyan and the shadow of Lilith. The fact it had already gained his ability would have startled the Angel…if it were capable of being startled.

Though the creature had already begun to subtly erode the Angel's hold on it, Leliel was confident both it and the Saiyan could be contained long enough. Once it had united with the Father, both they, the lilim and the Saiyans would be of no consequence.

Nothing would.

The situation was still under control. Just so long as nothing _else_ happened to disrupt Leliel's hold further.

It should also be noted that Leliel had never before heard of the concept known as 'tempting fate'…

-Z-

Shinji slowly opened his eyes. He was feeling drowsy but his mother had never quite let him fall asleep. However even her efforts had their limits and eventually unconsciousness had overtaken him.

The pilot took in a sharp gasp as he registered his surroundings. "W-What's-" he began in a loud, almost panicking tone, the world around him a cloudy crimson.

_'Thank heavens you're awake. __It's the LCL purification system,' _cut in Yui gently, her voice firm enough to calm her son momentarily, '_it's starting to break down. We don't have much time left.'_

Shinji exhaled a breath in order to push back the rising panic that had been threatening to consume him, "I wish you'd just let me keep sleeping then. I'd rather die unawares and blissfully ignorant of the fact that I'm about to bite the dust choking to death on putrefying _A__ngel blood._"

Yui remained silent for a moment, as if shaking off the wording of that last sentence. She then spoke again, '_And as I already said: NOTHING is going to happen to you._'

"You're being rather ambiguous here, mother. You just _said_ my time's almost up."

'_What __I meant was that we'll soon have to act. If we waited a bit longer then I was sure things would reach a point where I could free Unit-01 without you having to worry about getting involved.'_

Shinji's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You _can't_ hide anything from me mother, not like this. It's a swinging door system; I _know _what you're planning. And allowing me to reach death's door, escaping from the Angel, and _then_ pulling me back again just in time is _not_ what I would call 'ensuring my safety'!"

'_It's better than the risk that the alternative carries, trust me. There are worse things that can happen than near-death experiences,'_ Yui paused, making a sound like a sigh, '_I can protect you and keep you safe during it. If you'd please only trust-'_

"Don't try and guilt me with the trust card, mother. I've been manipulated by my father enough to know when I'm being played with. And if _you_ trust me, then you'll respect my decisions enough to stand by my side on this."

There was a long stunned silence in the cloudy darkness, '_…you really have changed, little one. I'm so sorry.'_

Shinji exhaled a tired breath, "I know you only wanted what was best. So…we act now then?"

_'Alright,' _Yui whispered, '_but you know what must be done...'_

"It's alright, mom. I'm ready..." said Shinji levelly, raising his head up and gripping the controls in front of him.

'_Right then...' _said Yui as the EVA began to switch across from emergency life support mode and back to what little standby power remained, '_Let's go...'_

-Z-

"It won't be long now..." lamented Goku as he watched over the city from their camp, Vegeta at his side with his arms folded.

"What will happen, will happen. Either way, I've been standing here for _hours, _Kakarot. I think I can spare a _few_ minutes to get some food," said Vegeta, unable to ignore the rumbling in his stomach any longer. He was surprisedto say the least that Goku had managed to last this long also. The prince had chosen to trust Goku's advice to wait and see. He had offered no other reasoning than that it was his instinct. Clown or not, Vegeta knew Goku was a Saiyan at the core. And a warrior's instinct is not something to be ignored.

"_Yeah,_" sighed Goku, turning about to head towards the house, glancing over his shoulder at the sphere in the sky as he went, "I guess we've got time for that..." he added, his tone dubious, Vegeta following on a second later.

It was just as both Saiyans turned their backs that a deafening _crash_ echoed out across the landscape behind them.

"What the-" said Vegeta, both he and Goku swinging around toward the source of the noise.

Both Saiyans were just in time to see the entire shadow-like body of the Angel begin to crack upwards like a road in an earthquake.

"What the hell is happening, Kakarot?" shouted Vegeta, watching as the cracks spread across the landscape.

"It's him. He's breaking free…" said Goku simply, staring out with a frown. He was not however looking as happy as one might assume.

-Z-

Both Asuka and Rei were flung onto their backsides by the sudden shockwave from the Angel's sudden cracking.

Misato merely staggered thanks to Gohan grabbing her by the elbow to stop her tumbling completely over.

"What's happening?" gasped Misato, having to cover her ears from the noise. She turned to Gohan who was now looking upwards ominously. She followed his gaze.

When looking back on this incident in future, Misato Katsuragi would remember the choice to look upwards as something she simply wished she had _not_ done.

-Z-

Asuka, Rei, Trunks and Goten had also glanced up from their positions on the ground, hearing the strange shaking noise emanating from above.

They watched as the white patterns on the Angel's spherical shadow dissipated into blackness and, with a sickening, _squelching_ noise of tearing flesh, a crimson covered fist tore its way out through the membrane-like sphere. A spurt of high-pressure blood erupted from the wound across landscape.

A dark demonic gurgling began to resonate over the area, coming from within the hole in the sphere.

Seconds later, a second arm reached out, tearing the gap wider.

The blood flow became a torrent as it sprayed out in all directions like a geyser.

Slowly, shakily, the gore covered form of Unit-01 ripped its way free, giving out a deafening high-pitched howl louder than a thunderclap the instant the head was free. Its jaw restraint joints were torn open as it screeched for air like a new-born giving its first cry.

Goten had staggered back in sheer terror as he watched the proceedings above.

Out of instinct, the boy had thrown his arms around the downed First Child and buried his head in her chest. The First instinctively found herself putting her own arms around him in an attempt to drown the sickening scene out from around him. She felt him whimpering slightly in her arms.

-Z-

Trunks was in no fitter state than his counterpart. That demonic scream had pierced through his core and he found himself hugging onto the side of Asuka's leg.

Asuka, through her own horror, looked numbly down and saw the look of pure petrification of the usually smug child's face, his eyes clenched shut. With an arm around his shoulder, she looked out at the flesh-coated beast as it pulled itself out. "By god… Is _that_ what I've been piloting?"

-Z-

Unit-01 tore completely free, causing the entire sphere to completely explode in a burst of crimson like some sickening demonic birth. The dark, gore-covered form crashed down onto the shadow below, totally shattering and destroying it in the process.

The EVA stretched its arms out and released another earth shattering scream at the top of its inhuman lungs.

-Z-

Vegeta was standing motionless with his arms at his sides, eyes wide and jaw hanging open in awe. He was unable to look away as he spoke, "K-Kakarot, you _expected_ this?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Goku looked on, his mouth also hanging open. The look on his face was one of both shock and disgust. He barely managed a slight tilt of his head to the left and then to the right.

No, Goku had not expected this. This provoked a strange instinctive fear deep in his core. He had fought monsters, Androids, inhuman killers and genocidal tyrants.

He thought he had seen it all.

But he had not seen this. No, _this_ was the primal image of fear; the thing that nightmares were made of...

-Z-

At some point, both Misato and Gohan had managed to turn away from the entrancing and utterly terrifying scene below and had spun about and ran for the command vehicle.

Bursting into the command room with Gohan behind her, Misato shouted, "Ritsuko what in the _hell _is going on?"

Ritsuko, who was still half-dazed by the proceedings, managed to snap herself out of it, "Maya, what's the status on Unit-01?" she demanded, glancing around quickly. She then noticed the young man standing next to the Major, "And _you;_ I thought I _told_ you-"

"_Save it,_ Ritsuko!" Misato snapped, cutting off the doctor, "He may be _assigned_ as your assistant but now that the Angel is defeated, command is restored to me. And as he is _officially_ under the jurisdiction of the Operations Department, any disciplinary action will also be handled by me. And as I am in command now, I'm officially placing him back onto active duty. Is that understood, _D__octor?_"

"Whatever you say, _Major…_"

"Wouldn't it be better if I just apologized?" asked Gohan with a sigh, "I kind of feel bad about it now, anyways."

Ritsuko growled slightly, glancing darkly at him for a second, "_Well?_" She demanded.

Gohan looked confused for a second before speaking, "Umm, Sorry?"

"Apology accepted," said Ritsuko, dismissing it instantly. She turned back to the command consoles, "Now get back to work, lieutenant!" she snapped, not looking back.

"Yes, ma'am," replied Gohan, shimmying back a few paces up to Misato's side.

"You know," whispered the major, "you really didn't have to apologize. In an official sense, you were off the hook regardless."

"Hmm, _well_... I still felt bad. Thinking back; as much as I could've verbally beaten her up, it wouldn't have been as bad as she would've done to herself later," said Gohan keeping his eyes front.

Misato snorted, "You're thinking quite highly of her if you ask me."

Gohan shrugged, "I guess I just like to see the good in people…"

Misato cocked her head acceptingly in response and returned her attention ahead, "_Well?_" she demanded, causing several of the techs to flinch.

"The EVA... Is _still_ synchronised with the pilot!" said Maya, disbelief in her voice, "Shinji is still controlling Unit-01 on backup power!"

"_What_?_" _breathed Misato, "Shinji...did that?" Misato breathed disbelievingly.

"It's his sync ratio!" shouted Hyuuga with sudden urgency, "By God, it's levelled off at two hundred per cent!**"**

"I've got internal visual!" announced Aoba.

"Bring it up!" Ritsuko demanded.

The image that appeared on screen stunned all to silence...

It was Shinji alright, but that wasn't what was shocking everyone into silence. It was the ethereal golden/orange glow that was pulsing and flowing through the inside of the plug almost like an aura. The Third Child himself was illuminated in it, giving him a pulsing golden outline.

To say the look on his face was fierce would be an understatement. It was a mask of pure, feral rage. A low growl was heard coming from his throat across the audio feed.

"What the hell…?" asked Misato, barely finding her voice.

"What's that glow?" enquired Gohan quietly.

Maya stammered as she tried to interpret her readout, "It's the _EVA!_ It's surrounded Shinji in some kind of AT field! We can't get any bio-telemetry through it!"

"How long until Unit-01's reserve power runs out?" demanded Ritsuko.

"He's still got another thirty seconds left!" replied Maya.

"That's far too long. You have no idea the kind of destructive power the EVA can have if fully unleashed. We've got to stop this," Ritsuko breathed, her head snapping round to Misato for any ideas. The major merely shot back a confused and desperate glance, "We've got to stop this _now,_" said the doctor with determination, turning back to Maya, "There's only one chance. Maya, you said you can't get any readings on Shinji, but can you still interface with the EVA itself?"

"I- I think so..." She said, turning to her panel in front of her.

"Good. In that case, send the emergency deactivation signal. We have to stop this from progressing any further, because I sincerely doubt that running out of power will stop the EVA in its current state."

"I have the interface, ma'am."

"Send the deactivation signal; cut all synchronisation circuits!"

The second Maya hit the return key, the image of the entry plug was illuminated by a bright flash for the briefest fraction of a second, before bursting away and revealing the entry plug back to normal.

Shinji glanced down at his hands for a second desperately and looked up at the screen for a second, his breathing becoming laboured, "What have you _don-_"

Suddenly, the pilot's face contorted into a mask of sheer agony as he clasped his head in his hands and let out the most deafening scream of agony that his lungs could muster.

The agonising wail went on for nearly ten seconds, causing everyone in the room to practically cover their ears over the din as the Third Child thrashed about left and right in agony until his breath ran out. He then slumped lifelessly backwards; unconscious...

Misato managed to stop herself from shaking enough to grasp Ritsuko by the shoulder of her coat and fling her round to face her.

The doctor was sickly pale herself, a haunted look in her wide eyes. Misato then said, in an extremely dark tone, pronouncing each word as if it were taking every thread of her control not to attack the doctor right there, "Ritsuko…What the _fuck _was _that?_"

Ritsuko shook her head mutely before replying, her voice barely a whisper, "I...I don't know."

Misato snarled and reared a fist back. She was stopped from dislocating her college friends jaw only by a restraining hand on her shoulder from Gohan and Maya's voice shouting up, "He's fine," she said quickly, reading off her monitor as the pilot's life signs came through, "His brainwaves look a little unstable, but his other bio-readings are all showing as normal. According to this he's just unconscious."

"_F__ine?_" echoed Misato incredulously, releasing the doctor with a shove and causing Maya to shrink away from the major in her chair, "Then what was _that?_"

"Shock..." murmured Ritsuko, staring faraway in thought, clearly distressed.

"Huh?" asked Misato, turning her head back to the doctor.

"We suddenly cut off the link to the EVA with his synchronisation ratio at two hundred per cent. I suppose the only thing that could have caused that reaction was the severe shock to his nervous system." She then looked the Major directly in the eye, "I'm so sorry, Misato."

Misato was quiet for a long moment, looking on at her old friend. She then breathed a long, tired sigh, "_I'm _not the one you'll have to apologize to," she said, turning her attention back to the other members of staff, "Now get a damn recovery squad out there_ now!_"

"Yes, Ma'am," replied Maya, who quickly picked up a nearby phone to dial out.

"Uhh…ma'am?" said Aoba carefully, not wanting to incur the major's wrath.

Misato wiped her brow and breathed a long breath to calm down, "What is it, lieutenant?"

Aoba frowned at his screen, "I'm not entirely sure, but the MAGI are picking up some kind of bizarre energy reading at the point where the Angel's shadow was in the sky. I'm putting it up on screen now…"

-Z-

"It's okay, Goten-kun," said Ayanami, peeling herself away from the Saiyan and crouching down in front of him.

Gohan opened his clenched eyes, "Is the monster gone?" he asked, pausing to wipe his eyes on his sleeve.

Rei glanced out at the collapsed form of Unit-01, "It was just Evangelion Unit-01 making its escape from the Angel. I agree the sight was…unpleasant. But, yes, it is over now."

Goten leaned carefully about the First Child, spying the still EVA and suddenly feeling like that child who got spooked by a funny shaped shadow on his bedroom wall, only to turn the lights on and realise it was something else.

"Are you okay, Goten-kun?" asked Rei, still crouched by him.

Goten sniffled and nodded once and Rei stood up by his side.

A frown furrowed across the Frist Child's brow as she looked upward, "What's that?"

Goten looked up also and tilted his head.

There was another black sphere in the sky, as still and black as the Angel's had been before Unit-01 ripped free, holding the exact position in the sky that the Angel's shadow had.

"I don't know. I hope another monster isn't going to-" Goten was cut off as the black sphere suddenly exploded like glass, revealing…_nothing._

The black shards fell and disappeared in mid-air. Goten frowned at the emptiness, "Did you see that?" he asked.

"I saw nothing besides the sphere," said Rei, looking down at Goten.

"I…thought I saw something there, just for a second. It looked like… a man. But it vanished straight away." said the Saiyan. Indeed, it had been only the most fleeting of sightings. It looked like the figure was already in the process of disappearing when the sphere scattered. And if the Saiyan didn't know any better, he could've sworn he felt a ki that was doing it's very best to mask itself.

"Are you sure?" asked Rei.

Goten shook his head, "I could've just been seeing things...I guess," said Goten, surprising himself that he actually admitted this. If it were Trunks, by now they'd be already brawling with him insisting he was right and Trunks insisting it had all been in his imagination.

Rei regarded the emptiness. There didn't seem to be any immediate threat.

That was when the next sphere appeared in the exact same place.

"Another one?" commented Goten, only this sphere didn't seem to be in the mood to hold still. Already it shook in place in the air, vibrating quickly.

Then, as if dragged down by something inside, the sphere crashed to earth near to Goten and Rei, sending up a huge shower of debris, the shockwave sending both children flying.

Goten caught Rei out of the air and hoisted her upwards as tarmac and rock came crashing down where they had been standing.

The sphere thrashed around on the ground, slamming about from side to side as Rei and Goten looked down from above. Then it went still, and all was silent again.

Goten slowly lowered himself and Rei down into the crater where the sphere sat. They stood at the rim, watching as the orb sat harmlessly in place.

I think it's okay now…" said the boy, tentatively stepping ahead of Rei.

"Be cautious, Goten-kun," said Rei, reaching a hand toward the boy who had already edged up to the edge of the black surface.

Goten carefully reached out a hand and tapped the solid surface and, satisfied nothing was going to happen, he walked in closer, briefly pressing his ear against it to listen before stepping back again.

The Saiyan turned about to face Rei, "Nah, it looks totally dead. I can't even sense anything like the other one."

It was in that instant that a large, muscular fist punched its way out of the black surface in a shower of black shards, clamping firmly onto Goten's throat from behind with insane strength.

"Goten!" cried Rei and rushed forward, just as another arm punched free, gripping handfuls of earth for leverage as Goten tried in vain to pull away as he was lifted off the ground.

The side of the sphere trembled violently and, with another deafening crash, a head framed by spiked, golden hair smashed its way to freedom, cracking open the side of the orb like an egg.

Goten managed to arch his head about slightly.

And found himself face to face with the Legendary Super Saiyan.

"…eep."

There was silence again as Broly froze, confusion flashing over his features, which was understandable considering his situation. His white, pupil-less eyes flicked about, surveying the area that he'd suddenly found himself in as he pulled himself up to full height.

His eyes trained on Rei for a brief instant, the girl taking a hesitant step back as she looked up at the hulking Saiyan.

Broly then looked down, deciding that the matter of whatever it was wriggling about in his hand required addressing.

There was a pause.

And then…Broly smiled.

"_Kakarot.._."

-Z-

_To be continued…_

[A/N] And to paraphrase an old British kid's show: And as if by magic, Broly appeared! Yes, things have taken a slight turn for the worse for our heroes. Sorry this one took longer to come out. It was at this point that chapters got _long_, I mean really long. So there may be delays. And for those who may be worrying, no, this does not mean a departure from the old fic, I'm merely adding elements to reinforce a plot model I drew up nearly ten years ago. Thankfully next time I get to write a chapter from scratch, which is a delight since I haven't had the chance to do that for quite some time. Hope to see you then.

Catch you in Chapter 19: Obsession


	19. Chapter 19: Obsession

[A/N] Back again, only this time without the original text as a foundation. Needless to say the freedom has been a refreshing change that I've relished. So yeah, this chapter's completely original and while a bit shorter, I found it much more fun to do than the simple rewrites I've been doing for the past little while, but you didn't come here to listen to me yap, so I'll just pick up right where I left off…

**Chapter 19: Obsession**

Goten strangled out a gasp as Broly's grip tightened, a manic look of glee plastered across the larger Saiyan's features.

"_No,_" intoned Broly, correcting himself and leaning in closer, "Kakarot's _son_…" he then chuckled as if he found this even more amusing, watching Goten's pain closely as his grip tightened.

"Release him immediately!" shouted Rei, who had no idea who the newcomer was, nor the danger she faced by just being on the same _planet_ as him.

Broly's attention flicked to the First Child for an instant. He scowled, as if annoyed his fun had been interrupted. He raised his free arm up and prepared to turn her into a stain on the wall.

Goten's eyes went wide as he saw what was about to happen. He gritted his teeth and transformed into a Super Saiyan within Broly's grasp.

The sudden upsurge in power didn't release the large Saiyan's grip, but the point blank energy wave Goten fired into his right eye certainly made him flinch.

Broly staggered more in surprise than the slight stinging in his eye, his grip opening up so he could wipe the single tear away that the irritation had caused.

Goten kicked away from the Saiyan beast and turned quickly about. He flew quickly past Rei, scooping her up into his arms, "Hold on!" he cried and shot off away from the crater as Rei gripped her arms around the small boy, his aura blocking out most of the g-force that his speed generated.

"Who was that, Goten?" asked Rei, glancing back behind them.

"Shouldn't be here…" murmured Goten, who looked pale despite his transformation, "We killed him…three times over!"

"_Who_, Goten?" repeated Rei, her voice holding a rare note of urgency.

Goten looked back toward the crater also, "The Legendary Super Saiyan…"

As if on cue, Broly let out an indignant roar and exploded out of the pit in pursuit.

'Another Saiyan?' thought Rei, looking back at the creature that followed them.

"I need to get to Trunks. We can beat him if we're together!"

"Goten!" warned Rei, watching as a green shadow expanded out from the pursuing Saiyan's hand which then gathered down into a pulsing orb of neon-green energy.

The Saiyan let out an ecstatic laugh as he hurled the orb after the fleeing pair.

Goten had to think quickly. If he slowed to dodge then he knew Broly would catch up, and there was no way Goten could guard Rei if the pursuing warrior attacked them both.

The boy spied a rooftop almost level with them ahead and immediately descended lower, "You know how to duck and roll?"

Rei glanced at him questioningly and then, comprehending his meaning, nodded.

"Right, here goes!" Goten shouted and, slowing as much as he dared, he dropped low and released Rei over the rooftop before quickly curling back about into the air to face the chasing warrior. Rei nimbly dropped into a roll and, with the exception of a slight scrape, managed to land without injury.

The green orb missed Goten by a mere foot, carrying on and exploding off in the distance.

Goten fired a series of energy blasts right at Broly's face. The Saiyan merely laughed hysterically and flew straight through them.

Goten moved to block as Broly raised his fist to backhand him, only for Broly to feint to the side at the last second and, with speed one would think impossible for one of his mass, lashed out with his feet and punted Goten square in the chest, the resultant sound of the small boy breaking the sound barrier echoed over the rooftops. Broly flew leisurely after his prey, his insane laughter never stopping.

-Z-

The legendary Super Saiyan didn't care how he had survived, this was the second time he had cheated death from his perspective. Needless to say, his repeated survival wasn't helping to quell his god-complex very much.

-Z-

"Is something wrong?" asked Asuka with a frown, noticing Trunks had gone oddly silent and seemed to be regarding something off in the distance.

"That ki," he breathed, his hand shaking slightly, "It can't be…"

Asuka leaned closer, following Trunks' line of sight and glancing back at the boy with a frown, "What is it? _What _can't be_,_ Trunks?"

And, as if to answer her question, there were two quick crashes as Goten went in one side of a skyscraper and out the other. He clipped a parked car, upending it and then bounced several times across the street before skidding to a halt near Asuka and Trunks.

The young Saiyan twitched slightly on the ground before going still, his transformation wearing off.

"Goten!" cried Trunks, both he and Asuka scrambling down the embankment and rushing forwards.

The pair barely got a foot closer when Broly exploded through the same building Goten had emerged from and landed to a halt gleefully atop the prone child, his foot skidding the boy through the asphalt and halfway up the street.

"What in the hell is _that_?" shouted Asuka, staggering to a halt.

Trunks looked at the newcomer in undisguised shock whilst Broly began happily grinding Goten into the street under his foot.

Trunks' hesitation vanished instantly. Asuka had to stagger back as the boy exploded into his Super Saiyan form, "Let him go, Broly!" he shouted and charged the superior fighter head on with a fearlessness that would've made his father proud.

Broly's attention flicked to Trunks, his smile widening, he flicked Goten away with a kick as Trunks landed a fist square between the beastly Saiyan's eyes.

He didn't even flinch.

Broly chuckled darkly and grabbed the boy suddenly by the shoulders and struck him in the gut with one large knee. Trunks let out a choked gargle as he coughed up blood.

Broly released the boy, catching his throat in one meaty fist as he fell and began to happily choke the life from him.

Trunks' eyes went wide, mouth open in a soundless cry as his hair changed back to its normal hue.

"Hey!" came a certain female voice to Broly's right, "Let him go, you bastard!"

Broly ignored completely the large shard of glass that Asuka then chose to hurl at him.

Asuka didn't like being ignored.

She marched up to the Saiyan, who was far too engrossed in trying to dispose of Trunks to notice, his laughter echoing over the street.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, you deformed meaty _freak!_"

Again, Broly paid her no heed, he was having far too much fun.

Asuka snarled and dashed forward, kicking Broly square in the one place she knew men were most sensitive.

Pain lashed up her right leg as something cracked. Asuka hobbled backwards. "Scheiße!" she screeched, hopping on her uninjured foot, "I think I broke my _foot _off his crotch!"

Stifling a gasp of air, she glared up at the Saiyan, noticing Trunks' face turning a sickening shade of blue, "Why are you doing this?" she demanded, then cocked her head with a smirk, "What? Have all those steroids you've obviously been pumping shrunk your manhood so much that you find _kids_ intimidating?"

The laughter stopped….

Slowly, Broly loosened his grip and then, with equally excruciating slowness… turned to face what had to be the most ballsy fourteen year-old girl in all the universe.

Trunks managed to gasp for air, finding the hold slacken slightly. He glanced down at Asuka, "Asuka…" he choked, pointing a finger up at the scowling face that was currently regarding the EVA pilot, "This is the Legendary Super Saiyan. He is one hundred per cent, without a doubt, _batcrap crazy. _Please stop making it worse…"

Asuka had guessed the new guy was a Saiyan; the blonde hair and big muscles were a bit of a giveaway.

Broly narrowed his eyes at Asuka and, as if on an afterthought, flicked Trunks out of his grip and into a nearby office block.

Asuka really didn't have a plan beyond stopping Trunks from having his trachea crushed. She took a step back as Broly took a single one towards her, towering over the human girl, "Okay…did _not_ think this through enough…" she said, finding herself laughing nervously.

"I just _love_ fruit…" said Broly suddenly.

Asuka blinked, looking taken aback, "'scuse me?"

Broly's smile showed too many teeth, "It's the part where you squeeze it… and it _pops_." Asuka let out a scream of protest as Broly then reached down and her lifted her entire upper body into the air with one large hand, "let's see what _pops out _when I squeeze you…"

Asuka found herself unable to cry out again. Her ribs were straining and already cracking by just being held in the Saiyan's grip.

'I'm about to die…I'm actually about to die,' thought Asuka, fighting to keep a defiant look on her face. She wouldn't cry, nor would she sob even if she were able; she'd stare this demon down until the last breath left her body.

But then, after realising the girl might know something he needed, Broly did something odd, something he had never done before.

He changed his mind.

Once the huge Saiyan was sure the girl was terrified, and Broly was sure she was -he could smell fear after all (he found few scents more pleasing.)- he leaned closer, "Now... where. _is_ . _**KAKAROT**_**!?**" he roared, right into her face. He let his rage and obsession echo through his voice; the sound of his unquenchable thirst for blood and the yearning to crush worlds to dust and light their skies aflame resonating in his tone.

Now Asuka shed tears.

"I'm right here, Broly!"

There was a flash of light from somewhere to the side. An instant later an orb of blue light smashed into Broly's other shoulder, staggering the Saiyan slightly.

Broly frowned with a slightly disgruntled growl, not looking hurt at all by the attack, Asuka still dangling in his fist like a doll.

Broly turned quickly about to the source of both the voice and the attack, his face turning instantly to manic delight.

Standing just a little further down the street stood Goku and Vegeta, the latter of whom still had his palm outstretched from the attack he'd hurled at the Legendary Saiyan.

It was his way of saying hello.

Goku's eyes narrowed at the Legendary Super Saiyan. Questions about his presence could wait, "You want to fight me? Then put the girl down, Broly."

Broly smiled and opened his fist.

Things seemed to slow from Goku's perspective:

He saw Asuka start to drop limply to the floor.

He saw the widening of Broly's smile, and the clenching of his fist.

He saw the blow from the Legendary Super Saiyan as he hurled it at the falling Second Child's torso.

For the briefest amount of time, Goku seemed to be in two places at once. His instant transmission technique had him vanish from where he stood, grab hold of Asuka, and then vanish again.

Broly's fist swung out at empty air, the mere pressure shattering the side of the building opposite.

Broly's brow twitched in confusion, his prey gone. His expression turned to annoyance, then undiluted, unimaginable fury.

The legendary Saiyan reared back and roared out to the skies, "KAKAROT!"

-Z-

Goku shimmered into existence inside the command vehicle, Asuka held in his arms.

Misato swung about, "Goku!" her eyes widened as she noticed a very pale-faced Asuka, "Oh god…Asuka!"

"Can't…breathe…" choked the girl as she lay in Goku's lap, tears in her eyes and face a sickly pale.

"Get a medical team in here!" shouted Ritsuko.

"Wait," said Goku, quickly rummaging in the pouch on his belt, withdrawing a Senzu bean a second later, "swallow this. It'll make you feel better." He said, pressing it to Asuka's lips.

The girl didn't argue and crunched the bean down a second later. The weight on her chest lightened instantly as the rib pressing into her lung was set back into her place. She heaved a breath as sweet air surged back into her body. "Misato!" she cried, reaching a hand up toward the woman.

The major dropped down quickly, taking her hand, "I'm right here, Asuka…"

"Th-there's…" she stammered, blinking the tears from her eyes. Misato noticed her trembling slightly; a surreal sight on the usually high-strung German girl, "There's something out there!"

Misato glanced at the screen which was currently showing the events proceeding outside, "We saw…

Goku, tell me that's not what I think it is."

Goku stood up, frowning at the image of Broly, "His name is Broly. And yes, he's exactly what you think he is and more. He's the Legendary Super Saiyan."

Misato blinked, "_Legendary…_ Super Saiyan?" she gaped.

Goku nodded grimly, "It's as bad as it sounds. I have no idea where he came from. We killed him years ago." He turned away, "I want all of you to stay in here. Tell nobody to go outside. If Broly sees anybody, he'll kill them on the spot."

"But why would he do that?" demanded Maya.

Goku glanced at her, "Because that's all he _does_. He once wiped out all life in a galaxy just to amuse himself, and he'll do the same thing here unless we stop him."

Silence fell. It was easy enough for Goku to say such words, but truly grasping galactic destruction was something the NERV staff found too terrifying to face. Second impact was bad enough, and that had only wiped out half the population of a single planet.

Goku glanced at Gohan out the corner of his eye, noticing how on edge he was. He also knew Gohan at full power would probably make short work of Broly, but letting him do that would pose…_problems._

Despite everything, Goku smiled, "Don't worry. We're all much stronger than we were the last time we met. "said the Saiyan, clenching a fist and flashing a bicep for emphasis, "You'll all be fine."

Gohan looked away glumly, knowing his father had effectively told him to stay out of it, even though his Saiyan blood burned for him to go out and challenge the enemy.

But Gohan was also human, and so he chose to remain…for now.

He was sure his challenge would come in time.

"I've got to go…" said Goku, glancing at the proceedings on screen as the ground began to shake, "Looks like things are getting messy out there…"

-Z-

While Goku was away,Vegeta found himself alone.

'Typical of Kakarot to run off when things heat up…' thought the prince, a smirk spreading across his face as Broly snarled at him. Broly wasn't too irritated though, as he realised that Vegeta indeed made a very good target of opportunity.

"It's been a while, you freak of nature." Said Vegeta, clenching his fists at his sides, "Who would've thought someone would go through all the trouble of bringing you back just for you to be killed by me."

"You have a big mouth, Prince of Nobody," said Broly in his usual deep voice, "I'm going to enjoy crushing you. You might just wet my appetite for when I catch up with Kakarot."

Vegeta's irritation spiked, "I'll teach you to take me lightly!" he shouted, his body blazing bright gold as he powered up to Super Saiyan.

Broly smirked, Vegeta's power not even bothering him enough to attack, "_Pathetic_, as usual…"

Then Vegeta smirked, "I'll show you which of us is pathetic…"

Then Vegeta transformed again.

The Saiyan prince's muscles bulged as his aura blazed brighter, crackles of ki energy trailing up the sides of the buildings around him.

Broly was unable to hide the mildly startled look from flashing across his face.

The look was not lost on Vegeta, "You're a _relic,_" said the prince, clenching a fist, "And I'm about to show you just how far back in the past you've been left…"

Broly didn't have time to charge as Vegeta shimmered, closing the distance between them in an instant, swinging into a roundhouse kick that struck the Saiyan in his sizable chest with enough force to send him spinning back into the air.

Broly grunted, fists clenching as he halted. He righted himself, growling with indignation as he glared down at the prince.

Vegeta stood calmly below, smiling as he raised a hand up, aiming three fingers at the Saiyan above.

His aura blazed to life again.

"Atomic blast…" said the prince in a low tone. A shimmering wave of energy was released from between his fingers like a dart directly at Broly.

The Legendary Saiyan barely managed to avoid having a gaping hole blasted through his chest, the trailing side of the wave slicing open the side of his arm as it passed. He snarled, turning back and not noticing as Vegeta appeared in the air behind him.

Broly turned back, only seeing Vegeta in the instant before he hit him with an overhead smash, which sent the Saiyan twirling uncontrollably back to earth and through a series of buildings.

Vegeta smirked, hesitating from firing of an energy wave capable of destroying Broly as he'd no doubt level all of Tokyo-3 in the process.

"Like I said: _Pathetic…_" snarled Vegeta. He quickly went in pursuit of Broly, landing over him as the Legendary warrior pushed himself up onto one hand and knee.

Vegeta smirked down at Broly, "Well, well, well…Looks like I got you to bow at my feet, after all..."

Broly swung a fist in a blind rage at Vegeta, who nimbly took back to the air with his opponent in fast pursuit.

Broly saw naught but a haze of red as he flew after the prince who shot ahead and landed atop a building not far off, waiting for him.

Broly halted in the air, his breath coming in quick enraged gasps.

This was not how things went.

He didn't lose like this.

But it was okay if the prince had more power than him right now… that was a problem easily rectified.

Vegeta frowned as he watched the Legendary Saiyan's expression change, a smirk spreading over it.

"Something funny, freak?"

Broly shook his head, "No. Though I must admit, you've managed to impress me, prince Vegeta. You've gone from merely laying in the dirt to being able to crawl through it…but don't think that makes you worthy of standing before me."

Vegeta scowled, "Only one of us is getting tossed around like a ragdoll here. And it's not me."

Broly's smirk widened, "You forget Vegeta; my ki isn't limited to what you see before you. My power _always_ grows. It _never _stops."

Vegeta smiled, "You really think a bluff like that will save you?"

Broly didn't reply, he merely clenched his fists at his side…and roared.

An invisible wave of energy and wind struck Vegeta as Broly began to power up.

A dark green shadow was cast over Tokyo-3 as Broly's cry echoed over the city, the very earth shaking under them.

Vegeta's eyes widened, "Impossible…" he breathed as the very planet seemed to tremble in fear of what hovered just above its surface.

Goku reappeared at Vegeta's side.

"What's happening out here, Vegeta?"

"You took your time," said Vegeta, not looking away from Broly as the Legendary Saiyan became shrouded in bright green light, bolts of lightning crackling in the air around him as dark clouds gathered.

"Sorry about that, had to drop Asuka off and fetch Ayanami; couldn't leave her out here with Broly on the loose. I can't find Goten and Trunks though."

"Worry about them later. We've got bigger problems."

Vegeta didn't flinch as Goku powered up to Super Saiyan 2 at his side, both turning to face Broly, "His power is immense…" said Goku, "How can he increase it to this level so quickly?"

"Was the freak holding back this whole time?" wondered Vegeta.

"I don't know. To be honest we've always gotten lucky when dealing with Broly in the past. If it weren't for you all combining your power with me the first them then there's no way we could've won. The second time we only got away with it because Broly couldn't reinforce his own attack because of Trunks' getting in the way. I suppose now we get to see what happens when he really gets serious."

The sound ceased, the world becoming almost terrifyingly still once more.

The rubble which had been floating upwards in the air abruptly halted and fell back to the earth below.

Broly was satisfied.

Yes, this would do…

-Z-

A storm of crackling energy surrounded the Saiyan as he stood atop the building. His muscle mass had remained unchanged. His hair however had become slightly more jagged and pronounced, standing vertically upward, his aura surged like blazing inferno.

Vegeta looked at him in shock, "Did he…_ascend?_"

Goku shook his head, "I have no idea. I suppose if we could reach higher levels of Super Saiyan, then there's no reason he couldn't too. Either way, this doesn't look good…"

-Z-

Gohan's tension was near breaking point. Everything had been going fine. It looked like Vegeta had Broly on the ropes; the gap between their powers was so vast that the Saiyan prince looked ready to finish the Legendary Super Saiyan off quickly. But that had changed quickly.

"Target's energy output has spiked exponentially!" said Maya, "It's at least comparable to both the other Saiyans."

'No…' thought Gohan grimly, 'As it stands, Broly is stronger now. That means it's probably up to you, Dad.'

-Z-

"Well let's not just stand around getting older!" declared Vegeta and charged Broly head-on.

"Vegeta, wait!"

Broly waited, smiling as Vegeta lunged a punch at him. The Legendary Saiyan blurred and dodged, taking to the air and grabbing Vegeta by the leg, swinging him round and square into Goku who had been flying in to assist.

Goku found the wind knocked out of him, reflexively grabbing hold of the Saiyan that had been hurled into him.

"Let me go, Kakarot!" said Vegeta who unceremoniously shrugged himself free, spinning about to hurl an energy wave at Broly.

Broly, laughing all the way, batted the glowing orb out of the air and right back at Goku.

Using Broly's distraction to his advantage, Vegeta vanished, reappearing with his palm at point-blank range in his face.

"Big Bang Attack!"

The sky was lit up by the explosion. A great sphere of light engulfed the entire combat area.

The people in the command unit screamed as the shockwaves tossed them about.

It took a moment for things to settle down. A giant plume of smoke concealed ground zero.

Vegeta backed out of the cloud, Goku hovering nearby, "Jeez, Vegeta. A little warning next time maybe?"

Vegeta was about to respond, but was silenced when an invisible wave of energy from somewhere inside the cloud erupted outwards, scattering the smoke.

Vegeta snarled, "I should've known…"

Broly, despite looking more than a little irritated and singed, was totally unharmed.

Broly chuckled darkly, "Is that the _best_ my crown prince has to offer?"

Vegeta gritted his teeth, "D-Damn you!" he cursed and was about to attack again, but Broly chose to beat him -quite literally- to the punch.

Vegeta had no time to react as the larger Saiyan appeared above his shoulder and swung about, backhanding the prince with enough force to send him careening in a spin back to the streets of Tokyo-3 far below.

"Vegeta!" called Goku, who was about to fly down to assist had Broly not turned his full attention to him.

"Now you're mine, Kakarot!" roared Broly, swinging a huge fist at Goku, who barely managed to block by crossing both hands in front of him.

Broly was unhindered. Using his other hand, he released a blast of green ki into Goku's chest under his guard.

The explosion sent Goku flying halfway across the skies of Tokyo-3, he barely managed to stop himself from decapitating the top of the high school.

Goku paused to catch his breath, "Darn him…I guess there's going to be no holding back on this one."

Goku reappeared on a rooftop near Broly, glaring up at the Legendary Saiyan. There was a brief moment of quiet as Broly looked back.

The skies seemed to darken as a crackle of lighting lit up the skies between them, blue energy danced about the building Goku stood atop.

Goku clenched his fist and let out a deafening roar, his aura becoming a blinding gold that concealed him from view.

The sparks gathered up to one point and the entire rooftop exploded in a burst of released ki.

Broly frowned at the concealed smoke.

It cleared a moment later.

-Z-

"What happened?" breathed Misato, looking at the image displaying a cloud of smoke where Goku had stood a moment later.

"I'm not sure, "replied Maya, "but Goku's energy signal just went through the roof!"

'So Dad's finally going to show what he can do, huh?' thought Gohan, watching the screen in silence.

Finally Goku was revealed on screen…and the room went silent.

-Z-

"What is this?" demanded the legendary warrior.

"What's the matter, Broly?" asked Goku, his voice a note lower than it had been before, "Never seen a Super Saiyan 3 before?"

"Super Saiyan…_3_?"

It was Goku who smirked now, his long golden hair flowing and crackling with ki energy. Then his smile vanished.

With speed Broly didn't suspect, Goku closed the distance between them and kicked the larger warrior out of the air.

Broly let out an indignant roar as he was hurled backwards.

Goku drew his hands to his sides before Broly could recover, "Kame…Hame….**HA!**" He roared, releasing a devastatingly powerful wave of blue energy at his opponent.

The entire city shook from the force of the explosion above. Goku let his arms drop to his sides as the skies cleared a moment later.

Broly was falling, dropping to earth like a rock.

Goku vanished, reappearing instantly on the street below as Broly landed on one hand and knee, the sidewalk shattering underneath him.

The legendary Super Saiyan gasped for air, his body scorched and bloodied, "Kakarot…" he growled quietly, looking upwards as Goku regarded him back impassively.

"Give it up, Broly…"

What very thin thread of temper Broly had snapped. He let out a screech of undiluted fury, "KAKAROT!" he cried, his body erupting in gold flame, the street around him shaking.

Goku charged, only for Broly to glare at him, roaring his Saiyan name again. Goku found himself forced back as a wave of energy was released in his direction.

'No way!' thought Goku with disbelief, 'how can he still get stronger!' Despite himself, Goku felt a reluctant smile tug at his face, 'He really is something else…'

Broly stood back up, his face a mask of nothing but an intent to kill. His muscles had bulked up slightly, the space between himself and the Super Saiyan 3 before him crackled with discharging ki.

"I'm going to rip you to pieces, Kakarot…"

Goku chuckled, "Well it's not like I thought you'd want to be chums."

Broly's teeth bared, "I will scorch this world and feast on the smouldering corpses of its worthless people!"

Goku narrowed his eyes at Broly as he began to advance, "No, Broly," he said in a low, calm tone, "No you won't…"

Goku could sense the increase in Broly's power. He was quite staggered that the Legendary Super Saiyan's body hadn't been destroyed by the sheer mass of ki that Broly was forcing it to pull out.

Goku couldn't deny it; Broly had surpassed him. But that wasn't anything new.

Goku was used to being the underdog.

Goku's brow twitched, sensing something off to the side. He then laughed, unable to hide his amusement, "Sorry, Broly. As much as I'd prefer this to be one on one, it looks like everyone else has other plans."

Vegeta appeared in the air behind Broly and released a barrage of energy blasts at the Saiyan's wide back.

Broly grunted and glared back wordlessly at the prince.

That was when Gotenks chose to explode from the building next to Broly. The fused Super Saiyan 3 knocked Broly to the side with a kick to his mid-section.

Broly cried out in sudden shock only for Gotenks to turn about and headbutt him with enough force to completely shatter his nose.

Blood sprayed everywhere as Gotenks skidded to the ground in front of Broly and finished his attack, upper-cutting the legendary warrior nearly two miles straight up.

"Nice entrance, boys." said Goku with a small smile.

Gotenks smacked his fist into the palm of his other hand, "Thanks. I decided it was time for us to get some payback for last time." He said, his dual voice resonating as he looked upward at his foe, who had begun his inevitable descent back down.

"Kill you…" murmured Broly as he slammed back into the ground, "Kill you all…"

Gotenks smirked, "Aww, whasa matter, big guy? Widdle old me make you mad?"

Broly's eyes flashed, "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

He erupted from the ground and into the skies above them.

Gotenks turned to Goku, "Too much?"

"_Nah…_"

-Z-

"I think they've got him…" stated Misato with a note of hope. It was an odd thing to have seen the Saiyans being battered about when before they'd always seemed so untouchable.

That was when a booming and clearly insane voice echoed through the command vehicle from outside.

"I'LL SHATTER THIS PLANET AND YOU ALONG WITH IT!"

There was a moment of stunned silence in the room.

"_Loud_," said Misato, "isn't he...?"

There were startled gasps as the image on the screen was surrounded by green as Broly began to gather energy for his attack.

"He's going to try and destroy the planet…" said Gohan suddenly.

"That's impossible!" snapped Ritsuko, "In case you've forgotten, lieutenant, the Earth is a multi-sextillion tonne ball of iron and rock. Do you have _any_ idea what kind of force would be needed to 'shatter' it?"

"I've done the math…" replied Gohan distantly, still watching the screen, "Excuse me…" he said, and then turned and wordlessly left the room.

"Where are you going?" demanded Misato, glancing at the young man and then back at the screen.

"Bathroom…" he murmured, as if not caring to make a decent excuse as he fished in his pocket for his phone and, as soon as he was out of sight, sent a simple text message designed to trigger a very specific set of programs.

-Z-

Rock and debris floated freely up as Broly looked down on the world he prepared to rend asunder. "This time, Kakarot," he said, rearing his arm back, "this time I kill you once and for all!"

With that, he hurled his attack down.

There was an eerie quiet as the small group of green orbs hurtled toward the seemingly unprotected Earth.

Then Broly got the reaction he expected.

The small orbs expanded massively, revealing the power contained within as three massive waves of energy fired from the surface struck them head-on.

The struggle was on, and Broly wasn't making it easy for the heroes, his energy forcing down the attacks of the other Saiyans.

"Darn it!" cursed Goku, pouring as much power as he could into his Kamehameha wave, "He's even stronger than I thought!"

Gotenks' own blue wave forced upwards, the fused fighter seeming strained by Broly's seemingly limitless supply of Ki.

Vegeta stood, feet firmly planted as his Final Flash worked to supplement the other two attacks.

After a moment though, the three warrior's power seemed enough, as the great green blast above the city was slowly forced back.

Broly's laughter echoed above the rumbling as he pulled out even more energy, the veins in his muscles glowed from the ki pumping through them as he pushed his body to the very brink of breaking point.

The blast expanded. Broly would kill Kakarot and that was that, for failure was impossible as far as the Legendary Super Saiyan was concerned. Goku would be dead and so would all his companions.

Broly lived for nothing else.

The Saiyan's muscles bulged even more obscenely as he raised himself to his absolute limit.

Three more sparkles of neon-green were fired down.

The ball swelled up to nearly twice its former size.

Broly was winning.

"Too strong…" shouted Gotenks, a small stream of blood coming out his nose as he pulled out dangerous amounts of ki for someone of his size.

"We can't let him win! _Concentrate!_" Shouted Goku, drawing out everything he could just to keep Broly at bay, but the battle was a losing one. Goku despaired, realising he might be about to fail those he'd sworn so steadfastly to protect.

"Kame…" came a voice Goku only distantly heard through the straining of his own body.

"D-damn it…" cursed Goku.

"…Hame…"

-Z-

"What's going on?" demanded Misato, looking franticly about as the screens all about her flickered and went to static.

"I don't know!" cried Maya over the shaking around them, "Everything just went down! We've lost all readings: visual; energy; seismic; satellite…_everything!_"

"Get it back then!" shouted the major.

Maya wildly entered commands as she tried to get the system to respond. She looked helplessly back at her superior officer a moment later, "I _can't_!"

-Z-

"…**HA!"**

That was when the tables turned.

Gohan's Kamehameha slammed into Broly's own attack with devastating force, the Mystic Saiyan's NERV uniform almost evaporating under the force of his releasing power.

Months of supressed energy tore to the surface as Gohan poured everything he had right into stopping the Legendary Super Saiyan.

Broly staggered, throwing both hands down as his blast was abruptly forced halfway back into the air towards him.

"Gohan!" cried Gotenks happily.

"Well look who it is…" said Vegeta dryly.

Goku laughed despite the situation, "Glad you could make it, Son!"

Gohan smirked, "Hah… End of the world? I wouldn't miss it…"

Broly screamed indignantly.

He had been surpassed.

"Impossible…" he growled, "Kakarot!" he screeched.

He wouldn't let them win.

He would _not_ let Kakarot win.

"What's happening?" said Gohan, sensing a sudden change in Broly's ki. It was getting larger, but the attack wasn't getting any stronger.

Goku frowned, "He's gathering energy…"

Vegeta's eyes widened. He recognised this type of increase.

He had used it himself once. It was an attack that cost him his life.

"He's going to self-destruct!"

All three looked at him in shock as Broly's laughter turned even more manic if that were possible, "YOU'RE ALL DEAD, KAKAROT! **DEAD!"**

Concealed behind his attack, Broly's body began to swell with golden light from within.

That was when, unseen by the four below, a circle of darkness opened in the air to Broly's side.

Broly's brow twitched into a frown as he noticed the circle in his peripheral vision.

From within the darkness, a spinning disc of crimson energy shot out with blinding speed.

Broly, unable to move due to the attacks he was holding at bay, could do nothing as the disc sliced through one of his outstretched arms, severing it cleanly at the elbow.

The darkness vanished and Broly screamed in pain, but the loss of his limb wasn't his biggest problem.

It was the fact that he'd been using that hand to help hold his enemies attack at bay.

Broly knew what was coming even before the three-fold Kamehameha, reinforced by Vegeta's Final Flash, tore through his own energy blast and caught him square in the face.

All Broly could do was scream; cursing the name of his eternal foe to his dying breath as their ki sent him, once and for all, to oblivion…

-Z-

Not long afterward, a small void of black appeared atop a cliff overlooking Tokyo-3.

From with the harmless looking circle, a lone figure rose up, his arms folded in quiet contemplation.

He stood so still in the light of the sunset that one might have thought the seven-foot tall humanoid to be some kind of statue.

Cell looked out over Tokyo-3, a look of deep thought on his face. It would have been most troublesome for him if Broly had managed to succeed in destroying the planet and his foes.

No, Cell had his own plans for them. But Broly had been a most effective pawn in forcing the Saiyans to demonstrate how much their power had grown.

Fusions, Super Saiyan 3's…Yes, Cell had learned much from his observations within the Dirac Sea.

His normally purple eyes were lit from within by an eerie red light.

A smirk tugged at his lips; fate had indeed been most kind to him, and had presented to him an opportunity that he never would have imagined possible in the past.

A frown creased Cell's brow as he had to admit that, even after restoring himself from a single cell…_again_… his power still did not come close to those he had sensed in the city below.

He had sensed one Saiyan in particular.

"You've gotten much stronger, Gohan, "mulled Cell out loud, smiling once more, "that's _good_. I would've been disappointed had you merely stagnated after all these years."

Cell's hand rose up from his side to gently cup the red orb of the S2 core embedded in his upper torso, smiling, "But don't think that will be enough to save you…"

He knew what the core was capable of: a literally limitless source of power. Even Dr Gero would've been impressed by it.

But it would take time, Cell realised, time for him to use the core to duplicate his power and nurture it, growing it to a level that would surpass all those below.

But that was okay, realised Cell with a content smile as the blackness opened under him again. Once more he began to descend into darkness.

If there was anything Cell was, it was patient. He had waited twenty years to achieve his perfect form.

He would wait once more…wait in the dark void between worlds, waiting for his time to strike.

And Cell _would_ return. And then all worlds -all _universes - _would know the terror of his ultimate perfection…

-Z-

_To be continued…_

[A/N] And thus ends our special little interlude with foreshadowing of things to come, and yes I took some mild liberties with Broly's power, but I figured that necessary for him to remain any kind of credible threat to the Z-fighters, so think of him as having gone a pseudo LSSJ2 if you will. A short chapter I know, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Until next time, and a merry Christmas to all...

Catch you all in Chapter 20: Unity.


	20. Chapter 20: Unity

[A/N] Annnd… back! Hope you all had a good new year. Glad you seemed to enjoy our last little instalment. I'll endeavour to keep things going at a decent pace.

**Chapter 20: Unity**

"Back," said Gohan simply, re-entering the main command room.

"You took your time," said Misato, frowning slightly.

Gohan shrugged it off, "When you gotta go…" he intoned, and nodded at the screen, "What happened to Broly?"

Misato turned back to the screen, shaking her head, "I wish I could tell you. The monitors just came back up on their own and he was gone. We're not detecting his energy spike either. Not to get anyone's hopes up…but It looks like we won. _Well…_ the Saiyans –_our_ Saiyans won , anyways." Misato narrowed he eyes at the younger lieutenant, "Are you feeling okay? You're looking a bit out of breath."

Gohan hastily mopped a tiny sheen of sweat from his brow, "Do I? Must be all this excitement."

Misato regarded him warily and turned back to the screen, "Are the reports in yet?" she asked, leaning against Maya's chair.

The female lieutenant pulled her headset off, "We've got some reports of structural damage to at least half a dozen armament buildings and several civilian structures. Nothing serious, Ma'am."

Misato nodded, turning to Gohan, "Moriyama, I want you to-"

"Ma'am, we've got an energy spike moving across the city. It's approaching Unit-01!" cut in Aoba as he read off his display, "_Correction_; It has now stopped directly over the EVA!"

"Show me," said Misato simply, dreading at the thought of seeing that hulking Saiyan beast looming over Unit-01 and her charge within.

To the Major's relief, the image zoomed in to reveal the form of Goku, who was hovering directly over the Unit.

"What's he _doing_?" murmured Hyuuga curiously. His answer came, surprisingly, from Gohan.

"Open the entry plug," said the young Saiyan abruptly.

The young man got some confused looks in response whilst Misato's eyes narrowed at the screen for a second. She turned to Maya, "Do it."

"Yes ma'am..." replied the woman unsurely with a cock of her head.

-Z-

Goku swerved out the way as the entry plug was released from the back of the EVA's neck, narrowly avoiding the four-way spurt of pressurised LCL.

The Saiyan descended as the top hatch slid open; revealing the unconscious pilot. Slowly he floated down onto one knee in the plug as he gazed carefully down at the Third Child, staring curiously for a second and, once he was sure the communication system within the plug wasn't transmitting, he rested his palm softly on the boy's forehead and narrowed his eyes.

"What's up?" asked Gotenks, still in his level 3 form, the fused boy having followed after Goku out of curiosity, "Is he okay?"

After a few seconds the elder Saiyan involuntarily flinched, his hand jerking away from the pilot in shock; his eyes wide in similar amazement, "Ooooh, now that_ can't_ be good..." he said, scooping up the downed Ikari and sliding him over his shoulder and taking off again; the entry plug sliding shut behind him as the EVA resealed itself.

Goku raised two fingers to his forehead, Gotenks grasping hold of his other shoulder.

-Z-

Everyone in the mobile command centre watched as Goku ascended clear of the EVA before holding position in mid-air.

The pair of Saiyans vanished from the screen and rematerialized in the room next to Gohan, noticeably startling everyone else in the room sans Gohan, Maya and Misato, who had gotten used to Goku's preferred mode of travel.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted as soon as she saw him, Asuka and Rei taking a sudden step forward also.

Goku turned round to place the youth down, only for Misato to scoop him from his grasp as she crouched down with him in her arms.

"Get a medical team in here!" Ritsuko shouted, turning to Goku, "What happened to the enemy?"

"Y-yeah, " stammered Asuka, still a little shaken from coming so close to her own demise, "Is he-"

"Where's Broly?" scoffed Gotenks, folding his arms smugly, "In little _bits_."

"You defeated him?" asked Ayanami, who was torn between the conversation and the sight of the Third Child.

"Somehow…" murmured Goku with a frown, "He tried to self-destruct and take us and the planet with him."

"And you got him anyway?" chimed in Makoto with a smile, "Nice job."

Goku cocked his head acceptingly; but something about the end of the fight nagged at him. He couldn't quite work out just _how_ they managed to kill Broly. He had a bad feeling, which he quickly tried to push to the side. There were other things to worry about.

Goku rummaged in his gi for a moment, "Here..." he said, revealing a Senzu Bean and offering it down to the Major.

"W-What?" she asked, looking between the bean and the Saiyan.

"Don't you remember? It's a Senzu Bean," said Goku with a smile.

A look of realization flashed over her face and she smiled gratefully, taking it, "Thanks..." she said, "Okay now, Shinji; never been one for herbal medicine myself, but for you I'll make an exception..." she said as she slid the bean into his mouth; making sure he crunched it at least once before swallowing. She gripped him in silence as the occasional bruise and graze on his head dissipated into nothing as the beans effects took hold.

Misato gasped as the Third Child's shallow breathing suddenly deepened with a gasp from him before settling down once more.

"You okay?" muttered Gotenks sideways to Asuka.

Asuka blinked and turned to the side to look at the boy. She knew she should make some kind of cocky comment, but in the end just smiled tiredly and nodded.

A startled gasp from nearly all in the room echoed out as Gotenks' body lit up blindingly for a second, the boy splitting back into his component parts.

Trunks shook his mop of hair to clear his head, "Man that part feels weird."

"Yuh-huh, "agreed Goten, who trotted over to join his father.

Trunks slumped back against the wall, nodding thoughtfully as he looked at Asuka, "Walking right up to the Legendary Super Saiyan and calling him out…you either have a death wish or Saiyan blood in you."

Asuka merely chuckled, grateful for the change in mood.

"There," said Goku, "It's done..."

"But he's still-" Misato said worriedly though slightly teary eyes.

"_Physically _he's fine," The Saiyan looked down as his voice took on a more comforting tone, "He... Just needs some time to work things out in his head. He'll be asleep for a while, just make him comfortable. He's going to be fine, I promise. Just... give him some time," finished Goku, his voice soft as he looked down on the child. He wanted to be reassuring, but neither was he sure that it'd be a good idea to let NERV know exactly what had just happened to the Third Child.

"'Kay" The Major choked out, still hugging the slumbering pilot as a medical team arrived, "sweet dreams, Shinji..." she inaudibly whispered in his ear as the medical team took him from her into their care.

By the time the Major looked up again, all three Saiyans were gone…

-Z-

Later, in the cute confines of Ritsuko Akagi's office…

"Well?" asked Misato bluntly as she rubbed her brow in exhaustion.

Ritsuko took her hands away from her keyboard and sat back, "_Well_, Goku was right; _Physically_ Shinji's fine. _Mentally_ well, that's just it: he _looks_ fine on that level too. Well, fine except for a slight brain pattern anomaly that's been fluctuating since he left Unit-01."

"A brain pattern anomaly?"

Ritsuko nodded in thought, "This is where things get odd. At first it was a basic spike: unordered, randomly fluctuating; like it doesn't quite fit in. But ever since it's been, how can I say; smoothing out into a less random pattern."

"You mean it's disappearing?"

Ritsuko hummed thoughtfully, "_No, _It's more like Shinji's mind is _compensating_ for it. What I mean is, it's as if it's trying to integrate it into the standard brain pattern, to _work around it_ if you will, whilst allowing it to remain there."

"I-is that bad?" Misato stammered, curiously eying up the wave data dotted all over the doctor's screen.

"I don't know..." admitted Ritsuko, exhaling a long breath, "Probably _not._ It's most likely the reason Shinji's still unconscious. What I'm _hoping_ is that he'll regain consciousness once his mind has simply managed to compensate for this extra energy_._"

"Can his brain _handle_ this 'extra energy'? Long term I mean?"

Ritsuko shrugged slightly, "I don't see why not. After all; they do say the human brain only uses a percentage of its full potential. I shouldn't think this will cause any long term problems. His brain chemistry is fine, and the rest of his brainwaves are exactly as they were last time he had a check, so it's not like it's affecting his personality."

Misato sighed in slight relief, "Alright then, if it wasn't the whole 'extra brain pattern thing'_,_ then what was it you called me here for? Coffee and biscuits?"

"_No," _said Ritsuko, hitting a key, "This:"

A stream of images representing genetic information filled the screen.

Misato looked at the screen, frowned as she vainly tried to make something of it, and then turned to Ritsuko, "Okay, translation?"

"This is Shinji's genetic structure."

"I guessed that from the label in the corner," sighed Misato.

Ritsuko rolled her eyes, "And it's in flux_."_

"_What!_" gasped the major.

"Don't get too excited. Again, it's probably nothing. Just a minor fluctuation in the nucleotides that control hair, eye and skin pigmentation, and it looks insignificant. From the looks of him there are no signs of change whatsoever. We're thinking that last burst from that AT field surrounding him saturated his body with enough energy to fuel a change like this."

"What, you mean like a mutation?"

"No need to put it like _that_," said Ritsuko "Like I said; his body absorbed the energy from the EVA's AT field and it caused a slight imbalance in his DNA. I doubt his eye's will be turning red and his hair glowing pink any time soon if that's the kind of thing you're worried about."

"You're _sure_?"

"_Yes_," said Ritsuko with conviction, "if anything would've happened, it would have _happened_ by now. I just thought I'd let you know, since you demanded to be kept updated on, and I quote, 'the tiniest change in his situation'."

"_Alright..._" breathed Misato acceptingly.

Ritsuko sighed as silence descended, "Do you…want some coffee and biscuits?"

-Z-

Time at best is a difficult concept to keep track of; especially when you're unconscious. The blackness that filled the Third Child's mind was like a _kind_ of dream to him crossed with standard unconsciousness, as if he were _aware_ he were sleeping, yet not exactly _dreaming_, nor could he feel boredom. All he could sense was a strange throbbing pain mixed with confusion as if he weren't even sure who or what he was but was on the borderline of realizing it.

Then it happened...

A twinge of realization shunted through his mind, followed by another, then two more, then four, then eight, it then carried on as thus until he found himself struck by a torrent of self-awareness as his identity came rushing back at him with a...

_Thud!_

"Awww!" the Third Child groaned, pulling himself up and glancing around, the sight that befell him was _not_ among those he had expected as he stretched up, massaging the back of his head.

It was his dreamscape.

"What?" Shinji murmured as he glanced around curiously, like usual; he was standing at the bottom of the NERV main pedestrian entrance's escalator while the room was as usual strangely split in half with the almost pitch black train carriage rattling almost silently away, but it was different. This time there was an almost eerie clarity to everything. It was as if he were concentrating on the image and something else were reinforcing it to the point it was almost perfectly lucid.

"And why the hell does my _head _hurt!" he groaned, wondering as to why he had a growing lump on the back of his head where it hit the ground. As far as Shinji knew, you couldn't feel pain in dreams. To him it seemed as though the illusion had become so lucid that he'd somehow managed to convince himself that his head was hurting. His mind was therefore responding in kind by relaying the sensation to his neural cortex.

Shinji blinked in surprise. That had been an oddly complex assumption to come to. Last he checked he had absolutely no knowledge of how the human brain worked.

Then why did he find himself suddenly able to map out exactly where in his head the pain was coming from and the names of the lobes and nerve clusters involved?

Pushing this to the side and deciding that he was just _imagining_ he knew all that, Shinji felt it time to move onto the next, and what he considered most important, order of business: why he was there.

Shinji's brow clenched in contemplation, folding his arms as his mind went ticking over recent events, searching for something that might have dwelled enough on for his mind to prompt his insecurities to rise up again.

He backtracked through his memories; he tried to recall what had happened during and after his escape from Leliel, but all that came up was a blurry haze of incomprehensible images and a haze of red.

Shinji's foot began tapping as he continued thinking, his mind ticking back further over recent events; searching for anything that he could have weighing on his mind. After a minute, the look of changed to frustration as image after image from recent events shot through his head, one after the other, until he just snapped.

"**WHAT?**" he demanded of the world around him, flinging his hands up in exasperation, "What could it _possibly_ be this time, huh? I mean I'm _finally_ starting to feel good about my life – So _what?_"

Feeling baffled and totally confused, Shinji did the only thing he'd recently learned he _could_ do in situations like these:

Rant, and rant _loud._

"Was it Asuka's breakfast that I burned last month? Well _shove it!_" He shouted at the escalator, as if it were taunting him.

"Was it 'cause I shrank Misato's underwear in the wash last week? Well _send me to hell!_" He bellowed, addressing a perfectly innocent fluorescent tube for some reason.

"What do you-" Shinji froze, having been about to accuse a floor tile next, when he heard the unmistakable sound of someone laughing under their breath.

"_What?" _he gaped, rounding on the darkness of the train carriage that concealed the noise, "You think this is _funny_!"

The chuckling turned into a giggle, a sweet and wonderful sound that hit Shinji in the core. He went silent, the sound of footsteps resonating in the air from within the shadows, approaching the threshold between them.

Shinji found his voice, "Oh, coming out of your _corner_ are you?" said the boy, an almost smug note in his voice as the form in the shadows reached the boundary between the two halves of the dreamscape.

It then crossed over.

Shinji was still in rant-mode, "You're nothing but a voice in my head! You think you_**o**__**h**** my god!**_" the pilot exclaimed, staggering back so hard he ended up tripping over his own feet and landing flat on his backside as the softly smiling form of Yui Ikari approached her downed child.

Yui dropped onto her haunches in front of a trembling Shinji. She reached tentatively out and brushed a hand slowly over her son's cheek, "You used to always be this way, you know; always overreacting; always _falling over._" She brought her hand down under his arm, gently helping the boy onto unsteady feet.

Shinji was still staring at her silent in shock. It didn't last very long as the inevitable happened. He reached a shaking hand up unsurely to touch her cheek which Yui gently cupped against herself, smiling warmly as her son's storm-blue eyes welled up with tears, barely managing to choke out, "_Mom_?"

"Yeah..." She whispered down softly, and was well prepared as he grabbed her in his arms squeezing her practically into a bear hug before bursting into a flood of tears in her chest.

Yui's arms encircled her child; softly cradling him against her, running her fingertips through his dark hair as several of her own tears fell. She looked down, cupping his head gently to her chest, "So you want to cry for a while, my Shinji?" she whispered, "Well you go right ahead... We've got all the time in the world."

-Z-

It seemed like, and most likely was, hours as mother and son held each other in the dream world until both managed to compose themselves.

Shinji was sitting at the bottom of the escalator, following his mother curiously with his eyes. He watched as she glanced about the area, contemplating her surroundings, "Interesting place..." she murmured, looking down on where the two sections of the dreamscape intersected, "Freud would've had a field day in here..."

Shinji grunted quietly, "Sue me, I'm a messed up in the head. I've learned to live with that.

I hate it here though. It seems I only come here every time I have something gnawing away at me, and end up having confusing arguments with this... _other _me, who has this habit of sitting _right_ where you first-" Shinji paused as his face took on a mask of utter bewilderment, "hang on a tic... Just what _are_ you doing here?" he asked, hesitating to glance off to the side, "In fact, probably should've opened with that. Somehow I know I'm not synchronised with EVA anymore, and unless I _dreamed_ you up, which I sincerely doubt, then it leaves a very big question mark."

Yui couldn't help but smile at her son's fast-pace reasoning, "You remember up to the point you increased your synch ratio inside the Angel right?"

"Yeah, then it all goes sort of hazy. So what happened?"

"You want me to put it simply?"

"Please."

"Something went wrong."

Shinji rolled his eyes, "_less_ simply."

"Oh, umm..." Yui paused to think, then suddenly a frown spread across her face, "Umm... Can we _please_ go somewhere else; you're right, this place is depressing to be in for too long. Oh, and don't worry about that other you turning up any more."

Shinji frowned, "What do you mean?"

Yui cocked her head, "_Well_, I had to make room for myself to manifest properly. So I merely chose to occupy the metaphorical spot that he used to, which I then developed to the level where I can exist independently in your mind –let it never be said that being borderline schizophrenic doesn't have its advantages – but first, as I said, I had to make room to prevent you going full-on split personality and…well…he had to go."

"He had to…_go_?"

Yui twiddled her fingers as she walked back and forth, "Well, since his existence was symbolic, I merely got rid of him in a fashion akin to the scenario he existed in."

"And how did you-"

"-Threw him under the train." Cut in Yui abruptly.

"You…threw my insecure self under the train?" asked Shinji with wide eyes.

Yui merely nodded sheepishly in acknowledgement.

"Wait, wait, wait, let me see if I have this down: You… got rid of the last of my insecurities and neuroses by…_murdering_ them."

Yui just beamed a smile, "Hey, that's what moms are for."

Shinji blinked, "I'll take your word for it. And as for changing locales, I'd _love_ to, but I'm afraid we can't just stroll out the door; what we see is what we get."

Yui suddenly smiled, "Oh, I wouldn't say that..." she said, closing her eyes for a second. The world around Yui and the Third Child washed away under an indescribable blur, leaving in its place a completely different scene.

_Thud!_

"Oww, god… _damn it_!" Shinji groaned as the escalator step he'd been sitting on vanished, landing him again on his backside, also inadvertently cracking his head off the tree which had somehow materialized right behind him.

Yui grasped her hands over her mouth in surprise, "Oooh, sorry I… forgot that... Ahh, well… _sorry,_" the mother said, walking over to her son as he stood up, rubbing her hand over the spot on his head where it impacted and brushing him down with the other. She knew there was no way her son could be physically hurt, but she found her instinct forcing her to look anyways.

"I'm _fine,_" Shinji said nodding his head away from the hand examining his cranium. He looked around as his mother stood to the side with her arms on her hips, admiring the view around her.

"Ah, now that is more like it," She said, smiling widely as she glanced around.

"I... I've been here before." Said Shinji distantly. His eyes traced the scene with intense scrutiny: This place; this shaded spot surrounded by a lake on a perfect summer's day; emblazoned somewhere in the back of his mind.

"Yes... I always loved it here and… I _think_, so did you, Shinji," said Yui, smiling as usual as Shinji looked around in awe.

"_Yeah..._" he breathed in awe.

Yui tilted her head suddenly, "_Although_… you would always start crying whenever I put you down."

Shinji's brow twitched in irritation, "Are you saying I was literally a crybaby?"

Yui grinned, "No…you just loved getting hugs is all."

"Yes..." Yui said decisively, "This will do nicely." The woman then walked back into the shade of the tree and sat down with her legs outstretched, her back against the trunk for support, "Oookay..." She said patting the ground ninety degrees to her right, indicating for Shinji to sit.

Shinji leaned back against the tree and slid down to the ground, sitting at a right angles to his mother.

"_Right..._" The mauve-haired woman said, reaching round the other side of the tree with her left hand and retrieving a straw sun hat which she then propped neatly on her head before folding her arms across her chest. She was about to open her mouth to speak when her son suddenly spoke up.

"Where did you get _that_?" asked Shinji, leaning around with a frown.

"What _This?_" asked Yui, pointing up and then saying with a grin, "I left it here,"

Shinji merely passed back a 'fair enough' look, Yui not noticing as Shinji's right hand begin padding about for something on the other side of the tree.

"As I was-" Yui was interrupted again, this time by a sudden sharp 'psst' noise. It was her turn to glance around curiously, more than a bit stumped by the fact Shinji was now sitting there drinking a can of lemonade, "_Okay_…when and how?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

Shinji smirked mischievously from behind his can, "_I_ left it here."

Yui now had one eyebrow raised incredulously above the other, "_You _were barely one year old."

"_Was I_?" Shinji asked innocently, "Guess my memory's a bit fuzzy," he said, shrugging his shoulders once and taking another drink. He waved a hand in Yui's general direction, "Carry on…"

Yui laughed out loud, shaking her head, "Where was I?"

Shinji spoke, his voice echoing inside the can, "You said 'something went wrong', I said 'less simply'-" He waved his hand in a circle, prompting her to continue.

"Oh _yes_, after you _insisted_ we do our best to destroy the Angel kicking and screaming-"

"-As opposed to me being taken to death's door?" cut in Shinji with a cocked eyebrow.

"You _would've _been fine, but never mind. Anyway, our synchronisation ratio peaked out at one hundred… but then it continued going up; it became impossible to control our synchronization level with the EVA. It went on to the point where I was _completely_ linked temporarily into _you_; We lost control of the EVA and it went berserk; acting on instinct it ripped the Angel apart and the combination of our minds formed an AT field around us using the EVA as we instinctively tried to hold ourselves at bay from one another. And as the EVA knew me best, it used my AT field; I think even part of my self-image was implanted in that AT field and was in turn somehow integrated within you when your body was exposed to the energy from the field…A_nyway, _back to the story: We were holding each others souls at bay using that AT field and, given enough time, that field could have been pulled back from within you and my mind withdrawn back to the core of the EVA, _but_... I'm afraid _that's_ where it went wrong."

"You mean after all _that_ it already _hadn't_?" asked Shinji incredulously.

"After all _that_, the situation was still under control..._until_..." trailed off Yui uncomfortably.

"_Until?_" prompted Shinji with a scowl.

Yui gritted her teeth, angry at the thought in her mind, "_Someone_ sent a damned emergency deactivation signal and severed all the neural connections to the EVA which, unfortunately, left us both _exactly_ as-is."

Shinji just laughed, "Don't be silly, Mom. After all, that would mean..." Shinji trailed off for a second as he caught his mother trying very hard to avoid his gaze, "...That... you're… stuck-" Shinji's widened in undiluted shock. He rounded on his mother, "-in _**ME?**_" he shouted, his jaw hanging open.

Yui drew her legs up to her chest and giggled innocently, "_Sorry..._"

"Ach, _Nein_!" Shinji sighed, flopping down onto his knees then rolling onto his back, "What are we going to do then?" He asked, glancing up at his mother, who had crawled over and was now sitting over him.

"Well we can't do _anything _like this," She said, glancing around to indicate the dreamworld.

"So can we wake up?" asked Shinji, still sprawled out, eyes looking up at his mother.

"_Now_ we can. That is, once we decide..."

"Decide what?"

"Which of us is the _conscious consciousness, _if you follow," said Yui, shrugging, "Obviously it would be ideal if you were permanently, but I'm afraid that constantly holding another consciousness completely away would put far too much strain on your mind, but I _suppose_..."

"Aww, suppose _what_?" Shinji asked dismally, smacking his hand over his face.

Yui looked off to the side, "I dunno, I guess we could work out some kind of 'time share' to keep us balanced."

Shinji looked at his mother incredulously, "Do I look like an Aspen holiday villa to you?" he slumped back down again, "Oh, _all right..._ You take the wheel first, mom," he sighed, waving her off tiredly.

"You sure?" She asked, squeezing his shoulder gently.

"Yeah, you take over. You need to get used to my form after all. What happens to me?"

"I suppose you can hang about here if you like. Take a nap or whatever," explained Yui, "but don't worry, you should be aware of what's going on outside."

Shinji exhaled, "Alright. I suppose I'll just chill here for a while... Go on then; off you go."

Yui stared down at her son for a while, before nodding once and tuned to head off. "_But!__" _Shinji suddenly snapped, sitting bolt upright with one finger held up.

"Hmm?" asked Yui, turning back about.

"I'm in charge if:" Shinji then began counting off on his hand, "You want to change; go to the bathroom; get showered; take a bath-"

"Of course, of course," said Yui patiently, waving it off with a grin as she headed off.

"And don't touch my girlfriend!" he shouted after her jokingly.

Yui shot back a cheeky smirk as the entire world around her suddenly went white...

-Z-

It was two days since Ritsuko had her chat with Misato in her office.

As personal penance for her actions during the battle with the 12th Angel, the doctor agreed to keep the Operations Director up to date on the status of the Third Child. And so, for what seemed like the fiftieth time in the past forty-eight hours, Ritsuko read off and noted down the vitals of the Third child onto her clipboard, tedious it was; but, she contemplated optimistically, it was a turn up in comparison to the events that had spanned the preceding days.

At least, Ritsuko reasoned, that reducing herself to the position of a glorified data carrier meant she couldn't possibly encounter a situation worse than those of the past few days.

And, unlike Leliel, Ristuko Akagi _did_ know what it meant to 'tempt fate', she just didn't believe in such things…

This made fate angry.

Ritsuko stopped to stare at the sleeping pilot for a minute. She then let out a tired breath as she leaned back against the wall, finally letting herself speak the words that had been bordering on her tongue all day, hoping somehow the boy would hear "I'm sorry, Shinji..."

Ritsuko shook her head then removed her glasses to give them a quick polish, dismissing the shimmer of golden light that passed over the prone pilot's body like a wave of reflected sunlight as mere glare in her lenses from the light outside.

Sighing once again, the doctor turned and headed off. Her hand froze however on the door handle as, to her surprise, she heard the sound of shuffling and unmistakable groaning coming from directly behind her.

The doctor swung round just as the moving Third Child pulled himself uneasily into a sitting position, his hands rubbing his eyes slightly. She began to move over yet skidded to a halt as she noticed the peculiar, and yet distinct red tint to the boy's normally brown hair.

As the boy stretched once, yawning deeply, the doctor again passed this abnormality off as a reflection from the red sunset outside the window.

She watched as the pilot held up a hand to block out the sunlight beaming in, mumbling in irritation. Ritsuko, not turning about, strode over and closed the curtains for him.

"Is that bet...ter?" Ritsuko trailed off in surprise as she noticed, even in the shade that Shinji now sat in as he glanced about to examine his surroundings, that the red tint remained strong in his hair.

"Phew... _Much_, Thank you Ritsuko," said the boy with an almost uncharacteristic cheeriness as he stared down at his hands and then twisted around to see as much of his back as possible, "Huh…quite broad."

"Something wrong?" inquired Ritsuko, stepping toward the phone on the wall by the bed to call the Major, keeping her eyes on the pilot as he slowly turned to regard her, wiping the sleep out of his eyes in the process, an unreadable and wistful smile on his features.

Then his eyes opened.

Ritsuko recoiled a step as if a gun had been pulled on her, dropping her clipboard in the process as her own green eyes were met by the piercing green eyes of the boy in the bed before her.

The doctor's breath caught in her throat, horror and recognition washing over her face.

Ritsuko _knew_ those eyes…

"Why no, Ritsuko, everything's just _fine,_" he said, still smiling in an almost disconcerting way at her.

"Sh-_Shinji_?" Ritsuko barely managed to stammer, finding her voice.

Those green eyes narrowed as the corners of his mouth twitched up, turning his serene smile into an almost amused smirk, "_Guess again..._"

-Z-

_To be continued…_

[A/N] And thus we conclude this little instalment. A little shorter this chapter, but it got me back on track for the new year, and glad we finally get to the point where things start to diverge from simply following the EVA plotline with Saiyans chucked in. Some of you queried Shinji's personality in this and wondered if he was OOC. Well, yes, that was the point. I actually based Shinji's personality more on his Shinji Ikari Raising Project counterpart (A good manga, give it a read some time) and tweaked it a little, but then in all the different EVA incarnations (the original, rebuilt, the various manga adaptations in alternate universes etc.) Shinji nearly always has a varying personality, so I had to adapt him accordingly. Now that I'm back on schedule after the new year, the next chapter should be out in good time, but this was when things got _long_, seriously so, so please don't hold a grudge if it's delayed a few days. Until next time.

Catch you in Chapter 21: Identity Crisis


	21. Chapter 21: Identity Crisis

[A/N] Konichiwa and salut! Really getting into the stride of things once more, which always feels good. We now come to the progressively longer chapters, this one clocking in at fifteen thousand words, that's before revision, so I apologise as I start this chapter redux, that by the time I'm finished it may have taken somewhat longer than before. But enough from me, let's get on with why you really came here:

**Chapter 21: Identity Crisis.**

It probably would've taken Trunks' sword to cut the tension that suddenly descended in that small room.

What can only be described as an agonising silence descended as the two doctors regarded each other; one with amusement, the other with abject horror.

Ritsuko stared into the possessed pilot's green eyes, having said absolutely nothing since 'she' had spoken.

The sound of Ritsuko swallowing was more than audible as she fought to find her voice, "You _can't_ be..."

Yui cocked her head curiously, as if dwelling on the sentence. She then shrugged her shoulders and turned to pull herself out of bed, "Oh well, then I guess I'm not. It really makes no difference to me," said the fourteen year-old boy/thirty-seven year-old woman indifferently before glancing down her arms and upper torso, narrowing her eyes.

Ritsuko sidestepped around the bed towards the wall phone in a shell-shocked state, not daring to turn her back on the figure before her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Yui, not looking up as she stretched her left arm out as far as she could, supporting it with her right.

"Do what?" murmured Ritsuko, halting with her hand on the receiver.

"You're about to call your commander, aren't you? My advice to you: _don't_" said Yui sternly, eyes narrowing dangerously at the doctor.

Ritsuko's brow furrowed into a frown as she regained her senses, shaking free of the shock, "_Why?_"

Yui recommenced her stretching exercises as she responded, "What do you think his reaction will be if he found out I was here? That is, of course, assuming I can be who you say I can't."

Ritsuko fell silent for a minute in thought, "I don't know. He'll deal with It, I suppose."

"As secretly and covertly as possible?" asked Yui, trying to cock an eyebrow up and not succeeding. She pouted slightly at her failure. Even as Ritsuko spoke, Yui seemed far more concerned with exploring her borrowed facial muscles and getting them to work the way she wanted.

Ritsuko inclined her head slightly, ignoring the odd faces Yui made as she mastered her face, "I suppose. This _is_ a situation he would like settled without-"

"Without chairman Kiel and the rest of SEELE getting involved?" asked Yui as she proceeded to extend her arms to the side and try and touch her nose with her index finger. She poked her son twice in the eye before she got the coordination down.

"Shh!" hissed Ritsuko, flinching and glancing quickly at the door, as if worried someone would hear the 'boy' say the forbidden name of the council and it's leader.

"You will have revealed in on an open communication line and so Gendo will fail..." said Yui, dismissing Ritsuko's worry, "SEELE _will_ find out," she then stopped her exercises to look Ritsuko dead-on, "and Shinji will die." She hung her head forward, exhaling a tired breath, "_Please,_ just for now. I will reveal it to Gendo in due course."

Ritsuko stared at the other doctor in thought for a second before giving her answer, "Alright… but I think you should-" Ritsuko was interrupted yet again, this time by the sound of her N-Phone in her pocket. She slipped it free and eyed the LCD screen, which currently read 'Katsuragi'. Glancing slightly suspiciously at the form sitting up on the bed, who in turn merely cocked her head curiously in response, Ritsuko backed out of the room for privacy to answer her call.

'Charming woman…' contemplated Yui she moved to slide out of the bed. She froze, shifting slightly as if to confirm something using the friction from the linnen. She frowned, 'Why am I _naked_? Honestly, don't they _have_ hospital gowns?' Yui sighed, "I dunno… _perverts,_ the lot of them."

The scientist was about to pull herself up, but then stopped and slumped back down again, rolling her eyes drearily as she remembered her son's parting words, "A promise is a promise..." she said before closing her eyes and lowering her head.

That same shimmering golden wave passed diagonally over her/his entire body, taking with it the reddish tint to her hair, her eyes switching back to their familiar stormy blue.

Shinji blinked as he stared around himself curiously, "Oh, I'm me again," he said, pleasantly surprised. His eyes fell on the set of neatly laid out clothes on the chair in the corner, "Oh, I see..." he said, sliding quickly out of bed and proceeding to get dressed.

-Z-

"He's awake?" exclaimed Misato down the phone.

"Yes, he's _conscious_, but..." said Ritsuko carefully.

"But what?" asked Misato, and Ritsuko could almost hear the frown on her face.

Ritsuko's eyes narrowed as she thought of how best to put it. She then let her head fell as she exhaled, shaking her head as she spoke "Just get down here, Misato," She said simply before hanging up her phone and slipping it back into her pocket. She swung about and re-entered the room. 'This is probably all my fault. I suppose I'll just have to bite the bullet on this one.'

-Z-

Ritsuko stopped by the door with her hands in her lab coat pockets, waiting patiently as the pilot, who had his back to her, finished buttoning up and adjusting his school shirt. Luckily he had been decent before she'd walked in, which was lucky; the situation was uncomfortable enough as it was.

"Ahem…" coughed the doctor politely.

Shinji blinked and swung around, "Oh, hi, Ritsuko!" said the boy mildly, almost seeming pleasantly surprised.

It was Ritsuko's turn, _again_, to be surprised as the pilot's eyes met her own, the familiar sight of that dark cobalt-blue being instantly recognisable. Ritsuko took a few steps forward to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light.

"Shinji?" she asked unsurely.

"Yes?" the pilot enquired simply.

"_Shinji?_" She repeated cautiously.

Shinji frowned curiously, nodding slowly and seeming taken aback by the query, "_Yeah? _I'm Shinji. You're Ritsuko. We've… met before."

"No. I mean it _is_-"

"Oh!" cut in Shinji suddenly in amused realisation, "I see. Yeah, it's me."

The doctor took a hesitant step closer, "Where is- W-what I mean is…"

"Oh, _her?_" interrupted Shinji, anticipating the question. "Oh, she's still here..." he said calmly, a wistful smile on his face. He tapped a finger against the side of his cranium, "Right here."

Ritsuko's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Shinji saw a note of fear in her usually professional gaze, "I see. Shinji... Don't go anywhere." she said before turning on her heals and heading out again.

"I wasn't planning to…" said the boy with a frown before going back to getting ready. He tied his shoes quickly and stood back up, dusting himself off.

"Right, much better," he said. He moved to sit down but then paused, rolling his eyes as he recalled that he'd only taken back temporary control, "_A__lright then_..." he sighed, and then clapped one hand against the other, "You're tagged in…"

On cue, Shinji's body flashed a brief ethereal gold as Doctor Ikari once more took control.

Yui eyed herself up and down before approaching the mirror on the far wall corner, glancing into it and appraising herself. She adjusted her short mauve hair slightly and backed away, looking over herself once more. She attempted to do a twirl, but only succeeded in tripping over her son's feet and bumping her head off the wall.

'_Watch it, mom…'_

Yui frowned slightly as she rubbed her son's head, still regarding the unfamiliar reflection, "I can't say much for your fashion sense, Shinji. You know what you need?" she asked, addressing her reflection, "A _lab coat_. Everything's better with lab coats."

Yui detected a grumble of irritation from the other personality inside her.

-Z-

"Ritsuko!" called Misato as she skidded to a halt outside the hospital room where her old friend was waiting, "How is he?"

Ritsuko glanced wearily at the door for a brief instant, "He's awake and he's up-" the doctor was instantly cut off as the Major pushed right past her and opened the door, "-B-but that's not the problem!" she called after her desperately. It was to no avail however as the Major had already entered ahead of her. "Oh, this won't go well..." lamented the doctor, hanging her head as she massaged her brows and followed her old college buddy inside.

Yui was standing at the window, regarding curiously the view of the Geo-front outside with her hands clasped gently behind her back.

'It really has changed a lot…' thought the scientist with a note of melancholy.

She didn't turn about when she heard the door open behind her.

Ritsuko had managed to slip past Misato, moving ahead of her and carefully approaching the pilot.

"Shinji?" asked Ritsuko warily, regarding the teen's appearance in an attempt to check just who it was she was talking to.

Yui turned round and shot a beaming smile at the doctor, "Nope, m_e again!"_ the force of her cheeriness caused Ritsuko to unwillingly swing round, rolling her eyes back as far as she could in exasperation, releasing a painful groan on top of it, 'Oh god, I don't think I can take much more of this…'

"So what can I –MMPH!" Yui was forced to stop mid-sentence, as she'd suddenly found herself swept up into the powerful embrace of Misato Katsuragi, who now had her gripped in her arms, practically smothering the boy's shared head in the major's ample bosom.

"Shinji!" sobbed the Major, hugging the boy tightly.

Yui let out a smothered mumble of inaudible words as she flailed her arms up and down briefly. Ritsuko watched as Yui seemed to just shrug in Misato's arms and then proceeded to hug her back unsurely before giving her a few tender pats on the back.

Ritsuko wiped a hand down over her face, shaking her head as she spoke, pain noticeable in her voice, "_Misato!_" she snapped loudly, "That is _not_ Shinji," she said, nodding her head sharply at the form in the Major's arms, who seemed to have become content with where she was.

Misato turned her head up and round back to the doctor "Huh?", the lavender haired woman asked through slightly teary eyes. She then looking back down again to Yui, who had managed to pull her head back enough to be clear of the Major's chest and look up. She smiled sheepishly as Misato's brown eyes locked in with her own green pair.

"Misato, is it?" Yui enquired, smiling nervously.

"Ritsuko?" asked Misato simply, turning to look at the doctor with a totally baffled expression on her face, still not releasing the pilot/doctor from her arms.

Dr Akagi exhaled a long, tired breath, "It looks like I was wrong, Misato. It seems that brainwave anomaly wasn't just another piece of excess energy…it was another _mind._" she said, painfully waving her hand slightly at the mauve-haired teenager.

"_What?_" Misato exhaled in horror, melting away from the person in her arms and slowly turning her head to face the pilot, "T-then who..." she said, staring into Yui's eyes in shock before turning back to Ritsuko.

"That's not Shinji Ikari," said Ritsuko, averting her eyes from both of them and taking a breath as if to brace herself for the fact that she now had to admit it, even to herself, "...It's _Yui _Ikari."

Misato's eyes widened in horror as her head, as if of its own accord, turned round to the person beside her. She finally noticed the difference in the Third Child's features.

Despite everything, Yui smiled widely back, "_Doctor_ Yui Ikari, "she swiftly corrected, extending a hand out in front, "Pleased to meet you. And don't worry about the hug. I like hugs; hugs are nice."

"Yuh… _huh_..." Misato gawked, nodding dumbly. Finding her brain assaulted by the revelation and influx of information, Misato took the only option left available to her.

She passed out on the spot.

"Well that went better than I expected..." sighed Ritsuko.

"Little help here!" said Yui in a panicked tone, struggling to hold up the Major who had thought it apt to collapse forward on her. She had went to catch the woman, only to realise she really wasn't as strong as she used to be, the slight atrophy in Shinji's muscles due to his long period of unconsciousness didn't help either. The weight of the major smoushing her into the wall was quite the wakeup call that Shinji's body would take some serious getting used to.

-Z-

_Half an hour later..._

Consciousness returned to the Major slowly. Groaning in slight confusion, she managed to focus. Oddly enough, Misato found her first coherent thought to be, 'Shinji was right. That is one _ugly_ ceiling…'

The Major was brought out of her haze by Ritsuko's voice from her side, "Well, it wouldn't be the first time you've passed out and I've had to put you to bed. It's almost nostalgic."

Misato regarded the hospital bed she was laying on with Ritsuko looking down at her from the right.

Misato then turned to the left to see Shinji or, more to the point, just who it was who _wasn't_ Shinji. The Major's eyes locked in on the green-eyed doctor.

Ritsuko knewthatwhatever the Major would choose to next it certainly wouldn't be pretty, but she never could've foreseen what Misato _actually_ did.

Yui didn't even have time to process a single thought as the Major's eyes suddenly darkened and narrowed at her with a snarl and, with blinding speed, her right hand shot up and grasped firmly onto Yui's throat, the doctor letting out a strangled cry as Misato leapt up and slammed her against the wall. The Major leaned down, forcing Yui to look at her face to face.

"Misato!" shouted Ritsuko.

Yui shuddered in fear for the first time in a decade at the furiously murderous glare in the larger woman's eyes, "You... _possessed_ him? _My _Shinji?" she hissed dangerously.

"I akkkch!" Yui tried to choke out, but was stopped as the Major inadvertently put more pressure on her throat.

Ritsuko hopped over the bed with such speed that she surprised even herself and, using the added momentum, she shoulder barged the Major clear off the suspended pilot and into the wall to the side of them.

"Calm down, Major!" barked Ritsuko as Yui slid to the floor massaging her throat, gasping for air. She pulled herself carefully up a second later, "Are you forgetting that that's still Shinji's body? If you kill one then you kill both!"

Misato took several deep, calming breaths before turning back to Yui, who was still had a hand on her throat.

Misato's eyes narrowed darkly again, a veil of icy calm holding in her temper. The major spoke slowly and gently, but her trembling undertone purveyed her true feelings, "I want to talk to Shinji ..._now_."

"Sheesh, you could've just _asked,_" said Yui before standing up to full height.

The scientist seemed about to comply when she suddenly hesitated. Yui rounded on Misato slowly, squaring up to the much taller woman. After a pause, Yui spoke, her tone so calm and neutral that her words chilled Misato to the bone, "Major. I know how much my child likes, admires and respects you. And I personally thank you for all you've done for him to a degree you can't imagine; he was so very sad before you came into his life. But I'm going to tell you this, and I'm only going to say it once: If you lay so much as a _finger_ on my son again, then you have my word as his mother, I _will_ kill you."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Misato, but otherwise she made no other reaction. It wasn't Yui's choice of words that scared her, but the sheer, cold conviction with which she had said them.

That was because to Yui it wasn't a threat.

It was merely a statement of fact.

Yui's head lulled forward slightly and Misato flinched as that same translucent golden wave of energy passed over the Third Child's body.

Shinji swiftly flung his head back up, opening his eyes.

His guardian looked unsurely at him as Shinji scowled, "_So,_" he began, an irritated tone in his voice, "Getting acquainted?" He suddenly flinched as his mind registered the throbbing pain in the base of his neck, "_Ouch,_ damn it!" he shouted suddenly, "Ooh, that's gonna leave a bruise. _Damn it,_ Misato! What in the hell were you thinking?"

"S-Shinji?" Misato asked, taking half a step extending a cautious, trembling hand.

Shinji rolled his eyes, "Yes, for god's sake. It's me."

Misato's eyes seemed to flutter as they became moist, "I...I'm so... I didn't mean to..." Misato managed to stammer, her tone shaking, "I wasn't..." she said, holding frozen to the spot, not letting herself get closer after her prior action.

Shinji shook his head slightly, smiling in defeat as he decided to put his guardian at ease simply by taking a full step forward and wrapping his arms around her torso wordlessly. He felt her tense up in his arms, a stifled gasp escaping her lips, "Consider yourself forgiven," he whispered gently up to her, reaching up to entwine his fingers in her still frozen hand and pulling her closer.

"_Sorry_!" shouted Misato suddenly again before flinging her arms around him and holding him tightly against her, returning his embrace tightly as she wept quietly into the top of his head, "I'm so-"

"Shh. _H__ey_ _there. _See, I'm _fine,_" interruptedShinji as calmly and as reassuringly as he could, running a hand through her long lavender hair, "Come on now, big girl. You're soaking my shirt." He whispered with a smirk, brushing off the tears from her cheek with his thumb as Misato she back slightly.

Misato managed to choke out a laugh, "Heh, looks like you've getting better at this stuff, Shinji," She said, smiling as she sniffed and dried her eyes on the sleeve of her jacket. Then, to Misato's surprise, the pilot's face took a more solemn look as he averted his eyes from her.

"Sorry..." murmured the teenager simply.

"Why?"

"For pulling that trigger in the first place during the fight with the Angel! That whole thing was my fault," said Shinji, shaking his head slowly.

"So... what happened?" Came Ritsuko's voice from behind, as touching as the scene was (and although Ritsuko hated to admit it, even _she_ found herself somewhat envious of the Major and the affection bestowed upon her by her young charge) it was time to get back to business.

Shinji frowned in thought, "Hmm. Give me a minute to think of how to explain this right," he said as he weaved around both women and sat down on the chair near the door and began tapping his foot in thought. Silence descended quickly.

"_Well?_" pushed Misato.

Shinji looked at her sheepishly, drawing blanks, "Erm... You want me to put it simply?"

"Go right ahead," the Major replied.

"Something went wrong."

"You don't say?" said Ritsuko dryly.

"Well that's how mom put it! Let me _think,_" he said, contemplating. He gave up a moment later, shaking his head drearily, "Forget it, I'll just let _her_ explain it."

A small lightwave later and Yui Ikari sprung straight to her borrowed feet, shocking the other two women more than a bit as she marched up to Ritsuko with an angry scowl, "You want to know what happened?" she practically shouted, "Some incompetent _moron_ sent an emergency deactivation signal to the EVA while our minds were still joined and friggin' trapped me in here!" Yui stopped her rant as she saw Misato pass an annoyed glare at Ritsuko.

Dr Ikari's eyes narrowed into a frown as she glanced knowingly between the two and then shook her head in Ritsuko's direction "I should've known… You know, Ritsuko: at least your mother knew what she was an expert at! She stuck to computers, _I_ stuck to EVAs. And just what might I ask were you doing firing off an order like that when Misato should've been in command?"

Misato sank down into a nearby chair, "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this

She took command, if you _must_ know, because my personal feelings apparently forced a change in leadership of the situation!" explained Misato, glowering at Ritsuko.

"_You_ took command?" demanded Yui, her tone displaying her obvious disbelief that Ritsuko could perform the task correctly, "So tell me_; _what was your idea to resolve the situation? I mean you must've had one in mind in order for you to overrule the Director of Operations. So, whilst I had my plan of destroying the Angel from within –a plan _you_ cocked up half way through – what scheme had you cooked up, huh?"

Ritsuko had inadvertently backed away over the severity of Yui's anger, and wasn't helped when the Major got swept up in it.

Misato glanced between the two doctors, frustrated at her friend's reluctance to answer, "Answer the question, Ritsuko," said the Major, an icy edge to her voice.

Ritsuko exhaled a defeated sigh, 'why do I feel like the whole world's turned against me now...'

The doctor then responded, "The plan was to drop all remaining N2 mines in the JSSDF's arsenal directly into the Angels' body while simultaneously using Units 00 and 02 to neutralize it's AT field; destroying the Angel and, with any luck, _also_ recovering the EVA."

Ritsuko paled as she heard Yui grind her teeth in her tightly closed mouth, "And might I _enquire_ as to how many N2 mines are in that arsenal?" she asked, ready to mentally calculate the force of the concussion wave that would have been created and, more importantly, what its impact would've been on the entry plug.

"Oh, only nine hundred and ninety-two of them," intervened Misato.

All emotion suddenly drained from Yui's face, giving Ritsuko a terrifyingly distasteful look.

Yui's eyes flicked to the side in Misato's direction, not turning away from Ritsuko, "Have you hit her yet?"

"Yup."

"Damn."

After a pause and, saying nothing more, Yui hung her head, shaking it in silence before turning about and opening the door behind her.

"W-Where are you going?" asked Misato quickly, breaking the painful silence.

Yui turned her head round slightly, "Shinji's muscles have become slightly atrophic. I'm going to go stretch them a bit. Accompany me if you wish, I really don't care either way."

"But I thought you didn't want anyone to find out about-"

"-_Listen_ Ritsuko," cut in Yui firmly, "when someone in this organisation notices something odd or out of place, what do they do? I'll tell you: They assume it's something dark and probably above their security clearance and so they _ignore it,_ or at least pretend to god that they didn't see it. Besides, who's going to be suspicious of the Third Child being up and about? The answer is nobody who'll spare a second glance long enough to notice the change in appearance."

Yui, not waiting to receive an answer from either, turned forward again and headed out into the corridor.

Misato raised an eyebrow, inclining her head acceptingly, "I've gotta hand it to her: that woman really knows how to make a point..."

"Woman?"

"You know what I mean. Now let's go before she wanders too far off."

-Z-

Yui took a few steps out into the corridor outside and then slumped sideways slightly against the wall, pausing to inhale the chilled recirculated air. She let the cold wash over her, hoping it would cool her off emotionally too. She let her head to hang forwards.

'by _god,_ I'm so worked up. I guess the electrochemical imbalance in Shinji's brain must've knocked me off more than I thought; I've never _threatened _anyone like that in my whole entire life,' she let out a sigh, 'oh well, better me than him, I guess.'

The doctor breathed out deeply as she saw both the major and elder doctor regarding her expectantly out of the corner of her eye.

Pulling her head up, Yui brushed the last beads of sweat from her forehead, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so brash, to both of you. I suppose I'm just a bit shaken up," said Yui, staring off slightly before pushing herself up and walking off, "Not feeling like myself these days…"

Yui then continued off, staggering slightly as she attempted to get used to a pair of legs which obviously weren't designed for her.

-Z-

_Fifteen minutes and a dozen stumbles later..._

"So..."began Misato, following after Shinji's mother as she turned another corner, "Do you actually have any idea where you're going?"

"_Nope_," admitted Yui with her head held high, "Not a clue. Just out for a stroll, is all."

The trio came out into one of the open areas and onto a moving pathway and, although Yui was _technically_ lying to the Major in that she knew _exactly_ where she was going from both her own and Shinji's memories, the scientist just hadn't really decided _where_ to go yet. 'Lord knows how Gen-chan is going to-'

That was when Yui skidded to a very abrupt halt.

Suddenly, Yui's head fell down. Her green eyes widened in shock, upper body tensing as one of Shinji's residual memories echoed through her consciousness in response to the thoughts of her widowed husband.

A tear of despair rolled down her cheek at the image in the memory.

It was the image of a man walking away. Walking away from a child whose mother had just been taken away from him forever.

Yui had to consciously fight to control the burst of raw fury that her sorrow ignited into.

"No..." she whispered, her body shaking slightly, "H-he _didn't_... He _wouldn't_. You _promised _me..."

"Y-you okay?" Misato asked as she peered round and down into the young doctors face curiously.

Misato recoiled back at the look of dark fury in the child's eyes as they flicked to her. The Major's hand unconsciously went to her sidearm, such was the sheer primal terror those eyes pierced into her in that brief instant, "Sh-Doctor Ikari?"

Yui blinked…and the look vanished.

The doctor beamed a bright smile, her face a mask of her usual contentedness. She regarded the Major for a second, "Oh, it's nothing, Misato, just dozed off there for a second."

"O-okay," said Misato warily, clearly shaken. To both hers and Ritsuko's surprise, Yui suddenly swung decisively about and marched off in the opposite direction.

"_Now_ where are you going?" asked Ritsuko with exasperation at the other doctor's borderline eccentric behaviour.

Yui just smiled, "Why _this way,_ Ritsuko!" replied the doctor cheerily, nodding her head forwards and continued on. "Yikes!" cried Yui, being saved for the umpteenth time from toppling over onto her son's face by Ritsuko's quick reaction time.

Misato gasped for air in shock as Ritsuko steadied the mis-embodied doctor, "Look, are you _sure_ you're okay to be up and about?"

Yui rolled her eyes, "Gimme a _break_ here. He's got such short legs, and he _certainly_ didn't get these hips from me I tell you," she said as she patted his/herself on the hips, rubbing them up and down slightly, "Hmm, must've gotten these from his father," she paused to squeeze them a couple of more times. She smirked mischievously, "_oh_ _yeah_, that's Gendo alright."

"Ooooh-_kay__!_" cut in Misato, ushering the doctor on with a non-too gentle shove of her shoulder, "That was just turning wrong on _so_ many levels, so move it or lose it, Yui."

"Yeah, yeah I get it..." sighed the short doctor as she walked onwards, glancing off to the side as she sensed Shinji cursing at her under his breath from the back of their shared mind '_language,_ young man...'

"And from now on keep your hands to yourself. T-that is…away... _whatever,_ you know what I mean!" said The Major sternly as she followed on with her arms folded.

Yui shot an icy glare back at the Major who nearly stumbled herself from its impact, "I'll _pretend _I didn't understand the meaning of that implication, young lady."

Misato glowered back, "_yeah, yeah. _You're just a thirty-something year-old woman trying to make it in a fourteen year-old boy's world, aren't you?" said the Major, her tone laced with disapproving sarcasm.

Yui grinned, "_Yep_, that's about the size of it."

They turned into a small seating area containing two elevators and several sets of vending machines. Natural light poured in through the windows and nearby doors that lead out onto the geo-front.

Yui glanced about, 'This'll do nicely. Now all I have to do is see if Shinji's little method of slipping out of uncomfortable elevator situations works in reverse,' contemplated the doctor a smile as she subtly leaned up against the elevator summon button.

"Umm, Misato?"

"What is it?" the lavender haired woman enquired curiously, wondering what the doctor had stopped for.

Yui nodded in the direction of the machines opposite, "You couldn't by any chance grab me a coffee could you?" asked the doctor nicely, "_please?_"

"_Alright..._"sighed Misato, pushing off from the wall she was leaning against and trotting over to the vending machine opposite.

"Double strength, extra sugar!" she called after, as if on an afterthought.

"You always _were_ a caffeine addict, Yui," murmured Ritsuko from the left with her arms folded.

Yui regarded the other doctor with a small smile, still using her son's body to hide the glowing elevator call button, "Guilty. But I've been a good girl since I'd stopped for quite a _while,_ you see, but I'm back on it now."

"Here," Misato said, offering a small Styrofoam cup to Yui.

"Ahh..." Yui sighed contentedly before taking a small sip leaning back to savour the first thing she'd tasted in over a decade. Her face screwed up slightly before settling down into a lamenting smile as she stared down into the steaming brown beverage.

"Over a decade, and the coffee here still tastes terrible..."

"Tell me about it," said Misato as she regarded the pilot. She watched as Yui pushed off from the wall when a small 'ding' resounded through the area, followed by the familiar droning of a pair of elevator doors opening.

A confused frown knitted at both Ritsuko's and Misato's brow as they noticed nobody disembark from the elevators, but chose to pay it no heed.

"So," said Ritsuko, "if you're quite finished with all this _wandering_, perhaps we could head back to my office now?"

"Would love to," began Yui as she turned about, "_Except…_"

"Except, what?" asked Misato, frowning once more.

"I'm _afraid_ I have to say that from here we must temporarily part company," said Yui as she covered the top of her coffee cup with one hand and, as the elevator doors to her left closed, she nimbly slid one foot through them and gracefully pulled herself in. Her hand whipped round and mashed any one of the numbered buttons on the control panel within.

Misato stood agape for a second before instinctively swinging around and hitting the elevator control button to her side, however the last second actions of Shinji's mother rendered the attempt totally futile.

Misato punched the button one last time in frustration and she slumped her head forward dejectedly, bashing her forehead off the wall a few times, "c_rap._"

Ritsuko was now tapping her foot impatiently, arms folded and a scowl etched into her face, "_Major_!" she snapped, shaking her head angrily, "Oh, that's it... I'm calling in Section two." said the doctor and, after receiving an accepting wave of the hand from Misato, she reached into her lab coat for her cell phone.

Hearing nothing but silence for a moment, Misato turned round to see the doctor padding about in her pockets, a look of confusion on her face, "What is it?"

"Can't find my cell phone," murmured the doctor, "I must've left it in my office…I think."

"The great Ritsuko Akagi found wanting? The world really is going nuts. Just use mine," said Misato as she reached into her flight jacket pocket, then the other, then to her jeans pockets.

"What?"

Misato frowned, "I…can't find mine either."

Ritsuko rolled her eyes, "I just _called_ _it_ to let you know Shinji was awake. Now unless you've lost it or someone _stole_-" Ritsuko froze dead mid-sentence, both her and Misato turning to look at each other, then simultaneously turning to regard the closed elevator doors.

Misato cocked her head, "Oh, she's _good_…"

Ritsuko just massaged her temples in an attempt to avert her oncoming headache, "_crap._"

-Z-

Yui smirked widely as she sipped on her coffee in her left hand, her right reaching into her son's back pockets and retrieving the pair of pilfered smartphones that she had liberated during her occasional 'accidental' stumble.

Yui was aware that it wouldn't take the Major or the Doctor long to reach the nearest service phone, or even just to locate a member of staff with a cell, but at least it bought her some time.

Yui's finger clicked the bottom button of the phone accidentally, the touchscreen lit up and revealed the rows of icons for the various aps, the background dominated by the picture of a Renault Alpine that someone had set as wallpaper.

Yui cooed slightly, "Ooh, _future phones…_"

Yui's curiosity at the change of technology was swamped again as the anger she'd been supressing broke through her composure once again, swallowing her entire thought process in its entirety as several more of Shinji's darker memories flashed through her mind. Her fist began to close around the two phones as that one image of the man with the suitcase flicked through her head over and over.

Yui's teeth were clenched together in her mouth, hand tightening. Suddenly two hard, resounding 'cracks' sounded out in the elevator, bringing the doctor momentarily back to reality.

Yui blinked her eyes, glancing idly down at her hand where the sound had emanated from.

"Damn..." muttered Yui as she regarded the two cell phones whose screens had shattered under the pressure of being squeezed together in her grip. She narrowed her eyes in thought at the two phones before simply dropping them to the floor listlessly at her side on top of each other.

Yui halted the elevator momentarily at the next floor up and set the two phones outside. She rose her foot up once and then slammed it down on top of them with more force than Shinji's leg should've been able to pull out. A satisfying crunch echoed down the hallway.

Yui flicked the destroyed phones aside with her foot, satisfied that both they and the trackers they no doubt had within were out of commission. She then reboarded the elevator and set off for her intended floor. The repercussions of petty theft and minor criminal damage paled somewhat in comparison to what Yui intended to do next. Said action was something that, if Yui were in a rational state of mind to dwell on, would've seemed insane. Unfortunately, however, the mother's usual mask of calm and rationality was being shattered by bursts of raw maternal fury, ones which she fully intended to appease with extreme prejudice...

At least for now that is...

-Z-

Shinji was sitting in his dreamscape in content silence, his legs crossed and his back against the tree.

He had a _general_ idea of the actions of his body whilst his mother was in control, or at least he _did_, as now Yui seemed to now be consciously blocking his ability to view what she was doing in the outside world.

He flinched, opening his eyes and looking up at the sky as a loud rumble of thunder shattered the silence of the landscape. His eyes widened as he regarded the formerly clear skies which now were darkened almost to blackness by storm clouds.

An imaginary cold wind blew over the landscape causing Shinji to hug his shirt slightly tighter around himself.

His brow narrowed into a frown as he watched the storm above, "What are you up to?"

Shinji stood up and walked over to the water's edge. He looked up, addressing the storm, "I don't need to be a psychiatrist to know you're piss- erm- _angry _at something. Would you care to share it with the rest of the class?" A disturbingly dense and ominous calm in the storm was his only reply. Warily, Shinji turned round and walked back to the tree behind him, sliding down and back into a sitting position. He leaned forwards and up to look up at the clouds again, "I hope you're aware that you've left me sitting under a tree in lightning storm...just saying."

-Z-

The corridors and walkways of NERV Central seemed deathly quiet, disturbed only by the small and seemingly insignificant footfalls of the 'Third Child' as 'he' walked onwards at an oddly brisk pace.

The look on Yui's face purveyed the building anger that was surging through her, pushing her beyond the point of rationality and into the realm of sheer instinct. She swung round a corner with such force that she nearly sent the passing forms of Gohan and Maya flying into a nearby wall. Not registering their presence, the innocuous child carried onward to his destination...

"Was that-" said Maya as Gohan steadied her on her feet, his arms still partly hooked under hers from when the pilot had knocked her into him.

"Hmm…" hummed Gohan thoughtfully as he stared after the pilot with a frown on his face, not even registering the fact that he was still holding onto his female associate quite tightly.

Maya stared up into Gohan's face for a second as she attempted to work out why he seemed so serious over something so small.

Unfortunately however, Maya's mind had failed in its attempt, seeming far more preoccupied with informing the woman what strong upper arms her co-worker had.

"M-Moriyama-kun?" stammered Maya, barely getting the name out.

"Hmm?" murmured Gohan as he continued to look after the pilot in thought.

"_Ah_...?" she breathed out desperately as she attempted to find some words to get his attention.

"Maya…will you excu-" Gohan froze in the middle of the word, just realising that he still had his arms wrapped around his colleagues slender waist and that her face glowed an almost bright crimson.

"Woah!**" **Gohan literally yelped as if someone had just electrocuted him. The Saiyan leapt backwards a step, opening his arms as fast as he could. Said action not only shocked the woman he'd been supporting, but also effectively dropped her flat on her backside.

Gohan flinched as Maya went to massage what would most likely be a sizable bruise on her behind, "S-Sorry, Maya!" He stammered, looking between Maya and the direction he was about to rush off in, "I... ah… sorry and... Umm... I gotta...go...umm, _this way!_" He then beat a swift retreat in Shinji's general direction, "See ya!" he waved back before picking up his pace considerably, still managing to hide the blush on his own cheeks. The lieutenant sitting on the floor with her legs sprawled out under her however wasn't so able to hide her flushed expression.

"Uh... huh... see ya," mumbled Maya, waving her hand pointlessly as she stood up; one hand grasped on her uniform over her heart, "What...just happened?" she lamented to herself, staring blindly ahead, wishing her heart would stop thumping in her chest.

-Z-

Gohan skidded, coming to a halt in the literal maze of corridors. He glanced left and right along both routes, "Where did you _go_?" he murmured with frustration.

Gohan frowned as his almost perfectly photographic memory recalled the image of Shinji in the split second before he rammed into him, 'Looks like Dad was right about what happened; that _wasn't_ Shinji. I'd best call and let him know.'

-Z-

Yui never faltered in her stride until she reached her destination. She skidded to a halt as a pair of familiar double-doors came into view.

The usually cheery doctor's face took on a mask of pure unadulterated anger as that enflamed maternal instinct burned through her soul, that same instinct that screamed from within her blood to do its bidding.

The instinct won.

One step was slowly moved forward, followed by a second, and then a third until she had already thrown those doors open and was striding quickly across the room within.

The room's single occupant glanced up from his work, regarding impassively the form striding towards him, not allowing himself to show any shock at the unexpected appearance.

The man never spoke, but heard the subtle sound of knuckles cracking in the silence as a fist was clenched.

Gendo's head rose up in surprise as the boy strode right up to his desk and turned sideways, adjusting his centre of gravity.

The commander leaned back in shock as the boy reared a fist back, glaring at him in the darkness with manic eyes.

A single deafening _crack_ resonated through the large room as the boy's fist struck the man square between the eyes with far more force than a child his size should've been capable off.

Gendo's eyes rolled back as he was thrown backwards out of his chair, hitting his head off the wall behind him and slumping to the floor in an unconscious heap, but by that point Yui Ikari had already turned about and marched from the room…

-Z-

Several minutes later...

Shinji suddenly found himself standing outside an elevator wearing a very bewildered expression on his face.

He glanced round to get his bearings, 'what were you _up to?_' he contemplated.

Dismissing it for now, he shrugged and smacked the elevator call button next to him.

Pain lanced up his right arm from his hand, "Gyaah!" he cried out, almost doubling over in agony.

Gasping for air, Shinji's face darkened into a scowl, "You know," he growled, "I know I didn't add 'breaking my bones' to that list of things I didn't want you to do, but I thought you might have been smart enough to assume it was implied!"

Shinji heaved several more breathes as he regarded his injured hand, "You know what?" he glowered, "I don't have to take this. You caused it, you endure it!"

And with that, Shinji retreated back into his mind, forcing his mother back into control while simultaneously swinging that hand at the nearby steel wall.

Yui found herself conscious just as the hand impacted the solid surface.

The doctor tensed up violently in agony and slumped against the elevator door, barely managing to not bite into her own son's tongue.

Luckily for Yui, her pain threshold was significantly greater than the average person.

Chlidbirth and being a giant god-robot will do that to you.

After cringing in pain for half a minute, Yui sobbed, and it wasn't because of the pain.

She cradled the injured limb against herself, whispering, "God, I'm sorry, Shinji. I swear I never meant to cause you any pain. I wanted to help you, to right at least _some_ of the wrongs in your life. And this is what I do: I lose control. I go…berserk. And as satisfying as it was at the time, the bottom line remains the same: I abused your trust to satisfy my own mindless desire. I'm so sorry, my Shinji."

Yui sat there in silence for a moment, no response coming from their shared mind.

Yui blinked in surprise as a familiar voice sounded from within her, '_Have you been __practicing__ that apology?' _

A warm, defeated smile pulled at Yui's mouth, "as a matter of fact...no, I haven't." Yui frowned, looking off to the side as he stood up, leaning back against the elevator, "Umm...how are you doing this?"

'_F__irstly, you'd be surprised just well I know my own __head.__ Secondly...'_

"Yes?"

'_A__pology accepted.'_

Yui hugged herself gently, "Thank you. Well anyways, I think it best you and I get out of headquarters for a while."

Yui could sense Shinji frown, '_Why, what did you do?'_

The doctor twiddled the fingers of her uninjured hand, "Oh, nothing…nothing. Might come up later though... Besides, we-_yaah!_" Yui flailed out in a panic as the elevator doors she was leaning against slid open behind her, leaving her leaning against nothing but open air.

The doctor braced herself for the inevitable pain in the shoulder, only to find herself saved by what appeared to be a pair of very muscular arms.

Yui cocked her head upwards to the face above her, "Hmm, you're..."

The person smiled warmly, "Hey there, my name's-" Yui cut him off however.

"-No, no I got it. It's _Goku_, right?" Yui said, smiling, pointing her finger up at the man. She suddenly became acutely aware of the quite sturdy frame still holding her. Her eyes flicked about, cheeks heating up despite herself, 'Oh my…'

'_Mom!'_

'Sorry, dear!'

Goku turned the doctor round and steadied her. Smiling, he bowed somewhat formally, "Son Goku is the name. A pleasure to meet you," he paused, narrowing his eyes as if to make sure, "Doctor Ikari, right?"

Yui smiled in pleasant surprise, bowing slightly in return "My reputation precedes me... Or are you just very perceptive?"

Goku continued smiling, "Neither. But Shinji told me he sensed your presence within the EVA, and when I sensed another presence melded in with his own it didn't really take long to guess who it might be."

Yui cocked her head acceptingly, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Son Goku" The doctor extended her hand for a shake, yet pulled it back hesitantly after a second thought.

"What is it?"

Yui shifted on her feet, "It's just... I hurt, though most likely _broke_ Shinji's hand just earlier. I don't want to cause him any more pain."

"You broke his hand?" asked Goku, cocking an eyebrow.

Yui tilted her head, "cracked a metacarpal, maybe fractured a carpel on top of that…"

"What were you doing? Punching a brick wall or something?"

Yui glanced off to the side icily, "Only metaphorically…"

Goku's eyes narrowed in thought, "Hmmm... Well it's not exactly an _emergency_ situation, but since I know how fragile you people can be and all… well I suppose I'll call it a special case."

"Meaning?" enquired Yui as Goku rummaged in a small green pouch attached to his belt and retrieved a sizable Senzu Bean. The Saiyan carefully broke off a small fragment, returning the rest of the bean to the bag and handing the fragment to the doctor. Yui raised one of her eyebrows cautiously as she examined the small bean fragment closely, sniffing it and tapping it quickly off her tongue experimentally.

"That should do the trick," said Goku.

Yui stared at the fragment in hesitation and glanced at Goku. The Saiyan nodded once at the bean for her to proceed. Shrugging, she tossed it into her mouth, crunching the bean fragment and swirling it around as if analysing by flavour before finally swallowing.

The doctor waited expectantly. She let out an inadvertent gasp as a strange cooling feeling passed over her body, focusing mainly on her son's right hand. Yui felt the dull throb that she'd been ignoring evaporate and marvelled as she felt the bones painlessly reset and knit back together once more. She also noted several other feelings including hunger and thirst vanish along with it. After the experience was over, Yui was left standing and feeling like she'd just had a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast.

Stunned, the doctor turned to the Saiyan, "You know, it _is_ scientifically impossible for a simple herbal remedy to accomplish something like this. W-what is it, some kind of advanced medical repair nano-machine system or something?" Asked Yui, an excited edge in her voice, "Can I have another?"

Goku frowned, "Why? You still feeling down?"

"No, I've got to figure out how they work. I need a sample!"

"B-but why?"

"For _science_!" exclaimed Yui with momentary glee.

There was a long pause.

"You do remember that you're not _actually-_"

Yui cut in, sighing, "Right, right. Guess I became a bit too much like my old self for a moment there. Seriously, how do they work though? What kind of technology is involved to make something like that?"

Goku hummed in thought for a second, "Hmmm no technology. I think it's just magic."

Yui blinked, "…Come again?"

Goku smiled, "Magic; Korin grows them. He's a talking cat who lives in a tower high above the Earth with a samurai."

Yui wavered on her feet as she felt her perfect scientific view on the universe crack slightly, "Please stop talking."

Yui blinked once, shaking it off, "_Magic.._. I don't know, you spend most of your life devoted to science and _just_ when you think you're starting to get it all figured out, '_poof_', something comes along and blows all your assumptions right out the window…poor science…"

Goku smirked, "Life's like that. Best things' just to get on with it."

Yui smiled once again, turning to the Saiyan, "Well either way, I think it would be smart if I made myself scarce…_quickly_. So if you could possibly lend me a hand; I need to get out of NERV central, preferably about ten minutes ago."

Goku nodded his head, "No problem, I can handle that," said the Saiyan before grasping Yui firmly by the shoulder with one arm and raising his free fingers to his forehead. The pair shimmered and vanished into nothingness.

-Z-

Yui let out a shocked yelp as Goku reappeared in mid-air over the streets of Tokyo-3, the good doctor gripped safely in his arm. Goku glanced around happily at his surroundings.

"Hey, I'm getting good at this!" said Goku happily as he realised he'd managed to appear just next to Shinji's apartment building.

Yui, who was now holding onto Goku's arm for all she was worth, glanced worriedly downwards, "Umm, Goku? Don't get me wrong when I say that I'm very interested to learn how you did that, but in the name of science would you _please_ put us down!" demanded Yui in a slight panic, whimpering, "I've never been one for heights…"

"Oh, okay," said Goku, hovering over to the level Shinji's apartment was on and setting the doctor down safely, "There you go, home sweet home...so to speak."

"Th-thanks, this'll do great," said Yui unsteadily as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"So," said Goku, folding his arms as watched Yui try and work out how the electronic door mechanism worked, "You wanna tell me why you were in such a rush?"

The doctor spared the Saiyan a nervous glance, "Umm, okay. But I think it's best we continue this conversation indoors," and with that Yui slid Shinji's card through the reader and hit the right button with his guidance.

-Z-

Goku and Yui settled a few moments later in the living room and the Saiyan listened to Yui's explanation for her haste.

"So that's it, is it?" said Goku, "Well I can see why you were so eager to get out of there, but are you sure _here_ is the best place to lay low?"

"Well, I'm not really _hiding_ so to speak. I just need a place to step back while the ensuing chaos I might've caused inside NERV simmers down a bit. Besides, as far as they know I'm still somewhere in headquarters, and if they assume I _was_ hiding I doubt they'd look here first," explained Yui as she petted the warm water penguin which was currently giving her a very confused stare.

"But what If they do choose to look in the most obvious place?" asked Goku.

"I doubt that will happen. Look at it this way: I was in the depths of NERV central, to get from there to here I would've had to have used Shinji's access card at least once; that would've been logged. Not to mention I should've passed countless surveillance systems and NERV personnel."

"I suppose," said Goku, "but still, I think its best I stay with you in case they do find you. Just in case they get a bit carried away and choose to shoot first and arrest you afterwards. There's also a chance the Commander might issue a slightly less than forgiving order, if you know what I mean."

"He wouldn't," shot Yui back quickly, turning away and drawing her legs up to her chest, "he may be angry as hell, but he'd never go that far..."

"You sound sure," observed Goku.

Yui propped her chin on top of Shinji's knees, "He may have hardened himself, frozen his heart and encased it in stone, but I don't think he'd ever _intentionally_ do something like that to hurt Shinji. Gendo's problem is that he just doesn't seem to care if anything he does just happens to end up hurting my boy in the long run… Gendo, you idiot…"

-Z-

Meanwhile, back in NERV headquarters, both Major Katsuragi and Doctor Akagi were still scouring for the evasive Yui...

Both stood waiting in dead silence for the elevator to arrive, as a thought suddenly struck Misato, "Hey, Ritsuko, how well did you know Doctor Ikari?"

Ritsuko remained silent for a few seconds as if deciding how to best answer the question, "I wouldn't say I _knew_ her, per say. After all, I didn't even _work_ for NERV –or Gehirn— back then. Though I did spend quite a lot of time there when I went to visit my mother."

"You _met_ Yui though?"

If Misato didn't know better, she could've sworn her college friend looked disturbed for just an instant "Yes, we met…"

"What did you make of her? Personality-wise, I mean."

Ritsuko narrowed her eyes in thought, as if visualising the event, "Well when we first met, she had this odd look of being..._h__appy_ to see me, despite the fact that she didn't even know me, of course. She always seemed to be happy about _something._ Even when she wasn't smiling or making it obvious, you could still tell she was always smiling somewhere on the inside. To me she seemed to always be hell-bent on warming up the world around her. I always thought she was strange; this was a woman who had just lived through the Second Impact. At the time I just assumed she was doing her bit to bring some light back into what you know was a very dark world.

It became obvious of course where the light that shone inside her came from the very first time she brought _him_ in with her..."

"Are you talking about-"

Ritsuko nodded, a tired smile on her face, "Yes... it's funny, I've just realised that I've technically known Shinji even longer than you have. Oh, Yui loved the Commander of course, but you could tell the way she loved Shinji was at on entirely higher dimension, and you could tell the feeling was more than mutual between them. The way Shinji looked at his mother was like he was staring at the vast expanse of the universe itself. Really was oedipal, that one. But I could tell he was content to be that way, and that Yui loved him back just as much.

The last couple of times I saw Yui, Shinji was always happily in tow and I could tell from the way Yui looked at him that it was he who was the source of all that brightness, all her energy. He would smile and her eyes would _shine_."

Misato was agape, "wow, you're being borderline poetic today…"

Ritsuko smirked grudgingly, "I guess I just dwell on the past a little too much."

Misato's brow knitted into a frown, a thought occurring to her, "Yui Ikari: she… didn't by any chance have shortish hair, did she?"

Ritsuko frowned back. Misato didn't notice Ritsuko hesitate before answering, "As I recall, yes, she did…"

Mistao nodded ponderingly, "Yuh-huh, cut into bangs; slender frame?"

Ritsuko blinked, "That's… _right. _How did you know?"

"Oh, lucky guess…" replied Misato wistfully before glancing off to the side, 'Oedipal is _right_…' she thought, chuckling to herself.

Ritsuko shook her head and carried on, "_Yeah_, I guess that's why when I first saw Shinji during the incident with the Third Angel I actually had to _ask_ if it was him. He looked so... _different_ than the Shinji I vaguely remembered."

"Well he _was_ about ten years older, it's not surprising that he looked-"

"It was his eyes," cut in Ritsuko, her gaze far away, "I remember they used to have this bright sparkle to their dark colour whenever he was with his mother, but when I saw him on the day the Third Angel attacked, they looked so... _empty._"

"You really are talking a lot today," said Misato with a smile.

Ritsuko sighed tiredly, "Like I said: only about certain things," she paused as a smile tugged at the side of her mouth, "Oh, but my mother _hated_ _her._"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Oh, she hid it well, but I could tell. Naoko Akagi loathed Yui Ikari with abandon."

"Why?" asked Misato with a frown, "Did Yui do something to her?"

"Oh, nothing, Yui did absolutely nothing. But… my mother had reasons, I guess…" said Ritsuko ambiguously, "And of course Yui didn't reciprocate the feelings. On the contrary, she thought of my mother as a friend too." Ritsuko shook her head, "That woman… I bet if she had her way she'd be friends with every single person on the planet. She seemed so, I don't know... _impossibly_ friendly."

Misato snorted, "She seemed a little bit less than that earlier."

"That's just because it's who she is, and also I guess that's the reason my mother hated her: If my mother really _was_ a woman first before even being a scientist _or_ a mother; then Doctor Yui Ikari was by far and with absolute certainty _always_ a mother before anything and everything else. That impassable caring streak is probably what everyone admired about her… Commander Ikari especially…

That's why she acted as she did earlier: Yui is a friendly person by default, but her love for Shinji is paralleled only by her hatred for anyone who will harm a single hair on his head; She will do _anything_ to ensure her son's safety and wellbeing, and if she feels she has to do something drastic in order for that to happen, then believe me; she'll do it. Misato…I'll warn you this once: Yui Ikari was _not_ making an idle threat when she said she'd kill you if you transgressed against Shinji in some way."

Misato smiled grimly, "Well I guess I'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen then, wont I? Not that I blame her though. What's it they say: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? I guess that's doubly so for mothers."

Silence fell again as the elevator descended. The quiet was broke, surprisingly, by Ritsuko, "I used to think it would be easy just to hate her as my mother did. For a reason it would seem almost _logical – _in a somewhat disturbing and twisted way I might add."

"Oh, So you _don't_?"

Misato could now clearly see the doctor looked spooked, or at the very least disturbed about something, "I... thought I did. But it was when I first saw those eyes staring back at me in that room earlier. I couldn't believe it was her, I simply _couldn't._ And I'm not talking about the scientific improbability. It's because that, for just the merest fraction of an instant, I could tell...part of me...was _happy_ to see her."

Silence fell again as a clearly interested Misato spoke up "Going to tell me why?"

Ritsuko couldn't bring herself to actually speak the answer that existed loudly at the front of her mind, 'probably because she could finish the fight both my mother and I started years ago…and accomplish what neither of us could: she might be able to make him happy again… and free me once and for all from my mother's shadow, and to escape the folly I've been trying to distance myself from all my life; the one I've been making every time I myself went to bed with him too… no amount of hair dye can change that similarity.'

Misato blinked as Ritsuko suddenly smiled for no real reason, "Umm, are you… okay, Ritsu?"

Ritsuko's closed her eyes, shaking her head as she smiled, "I'm fine, Misato. It's just-" her brain stopped her from saying the words again, 'It's just... it looks like I need to find myself a new lover...'

"Just…?" Misato prodded curiously.

Ritsuko managed to hide how wide her smile became as she paraphrased the words she head earlier, "Why nothing, Misato... Everything's just _fine,_" she then let the world around her happily blur out as she imagined how many amusing and self-enriching ways she could dump Commander Ikari. "Misato?" asked the doctor suddenly.

"Hmm, what is it, Ritsuko?"

"Would you like to go out some time soon? Paint the town that proverbial red?"

Misato's jaw dropped. She regarded Ritsuko in awed silence for a whole moment, "Okay…who are you and what have you done with Ritsuko Akagi?"

Ritsuko smiled weakly in reply. Suddenly her eyes widened in sudden realisation as the answer hit her. She also felt immensely foolish for not working it out earlier, though she would later suspect her subconscious to have held the information back out of a twisted sense of spite.

'Of course,' she thought, sighing, 'where _else_ would she have gone?' "Misato..."

"What is it?"

"I know where she went," said Ritsuko quickly, her hand coming up and hitting the appropriate floor button.

-Z-

Yui sneezed for the tenth time in three minutes; it felt like someone was _tap-dancing_ on her grave.

Which was odd considering her body wasn't even in there.

"Someone talking about you?" asked Goku with a grin, pulling his head out of Misato's fridge and retrieving an obscenely large quantity of food to fill his sandwich with.

"It wouldn't surprise me..." She lamented as she fed Pen-Pen his third sardine; the bird's reservations about the food-giver's odd appearance had long since been overshadowed by the edible offerings.

The doctor's eyes narrowed analytically as s/he regarded the bird 'a _hot-springs penguin_? Takes all sorts, I suppose' Yui contemplated, smiling as she scratched the birds chest. The bird cawed happily and rubbed himself up against the doctor, his affection easily won.

"Well it looks like the NERV boys are slow today. Usually when the commander wants you- well, _Shinji,_ brought in, they're usually here within an average of fifteen minutes of the order being sent out," said Goku offhandedly as he stacked his snack dangerously high to the point that it defied gravity.

"_Thanks,_ by the way..." said Yui suddenly, still looking down at the penguin. A small smile graced her face as she stroked the birds head gently.

"Hmm, what for?" asked Goku as he chomped a huge mouthful of his sandwich.

"For keeping an eye on my Shinji for me."

Goku waved it off, "Ah, any time. Besides, I _did_ give him my word that I'd keep at least one eye on him. He's strong at heart, but when all this mess comes to its climax, I'm pretty sure he's going to need our help. But for now we just need to make sure he doesn't get into trouble... _well,_ make sure he doesn't get _caught _at least," said the Saiyan, grinning mischievously.

"Well, thanks anyway-" Yui said, her conversation interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing a few seconds later. She pushed herself to her feet, backing unconsciously away in Goku's direction for safety. She Saiyan stood up between them, forming a very broad-shouldered barrier in front of her.

Goku sniffed the air once and looked to the doctor with a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, it's only-"

"Hey, Misato! You home?" came an unmistakable booming voice followed by the sound of a pair of shoes being haphazardly kicked off.

"-_Asuka_..." finished Goku, exhaling the breath that the German girl's shouting had forced him to take.

Seconds later a clearly drained Second Child entered the living room. She stopped in front of the chairs and regarded the empty room for a brief pause "Just me again... I swear, when that idiot gets-" she stopped in mid-sentence and stifled a gasp as she registered Goku's presence in the kitchen doorway.

She somehow managed to totally ignore the Saiyan's presence in the room as her eyes trained squarely in on the 'Third Child' who was edging out from behind him.

"Shin…ji…?" Asuka trailed off, their eyes meeting. The pilot's poise immediately changed as Yui stepped into the room.

Slowly, carefully, Asuka began walking sideward, half-circling Yui like a panther pacing in front of its prey, all the while keeping her eyes trained directly on her.

After a minute of dense silence, Asuka stopped dead. Yui watched as the German girl's face tightened into an angry scowl, her fist tightening at her side.

And then Asuka spoke, "Who the hell are you?"

The doctor showed mild surprise at the Second Child's words. Yui then settled into an amused grin, said action only serving to make the Second Child even more defensive, but before Asuka could grab the Third by the scruff of his/her collar and pin her to the ground, Yui spoke, staring down and giggling with a hand over her mouth, "So like Kyoko: Sharp; intuitive…" intoned Yui before reaching up and resting a gentle hand on the girl's cheek," and you really have become just as beautiful too. It's been quite a while… Asuka-chan," finished the doctor with her usual tenderness.

Asuka's cheek had flushed at the contact and the words for more reason than one, but her emotions kicked quickly back in and that blood drained quickly away as the depth of the situation kicked in, leaving her an unhealthy-looking shade of white "My...mother?" she barely managed to whisper out, trying to ignore painful memories that were suddenly wretched to the surface, and while recent times had dulled them, they still hit her heart like shards of ice each time they were called up.

Yui, who hadn't seen Asuka's reaction due to being caught in her own contemplations, suddenly asked, "Umm, by the way, how _is_ Kyoko-chan? I haven't seen her around here. Let me guess: still back in Germany is she? You never could pull that woman away from her work once she gets started. Does she still have that odd habit of falling asleep in strange places?"

Yui missed Shinji shouting a warning from the back of their mind, her smile fading into a confused frown as the Second Child stared blankly ahead, "Umm... Asuka-chan?" she asked, waving a hand up and down in front of her distant eyes, "Helloooo, anybody in?"

Asuka was still staring blankly as she responded, her voice somewhere between a terse whisper and a hiss, "Just answer the damned question, you _freak!_"

That startled Yui enough to go silent. Yet just as the doctor was contemplating how to respond, she gasped as her vision seemed to tunnel down to a point and felt herself dragged inwards, the world blurring until she suddenly found herself dragged into a waking trance on the spot and right into her original body within the shared dreamscape.

Yui staggered, feeling as if someone had just lassoed her from behind. She looked around, registering her location on the shoreline under that perpetually sunny sky.

"Ahem!" coughed a familiar voice from behind the doctor. Yui swung around to find Shinji sitting with his legs crossed under him and chin propped up on one hand. There was a noticeable frown etched into his face as he regarded his mother.

"Shinji?"

"You _know_..." began Shinji, "I thought I'd just tell you, y'know _before_ you go and say something unimaginably untactful or make us look like a pair of insensitive idiots, that I just so happened to find out some info on Asuka a week or so ago when I glanced at her personnel file; call it my curiosity getting the better of me."

Yui was somewhat disturbed by Shinji's undertone, "W-what info? I mean I was just asking about-"

"Kyoko's dead, mom..." cut in Shinji suddenly, startling Yui into silence. Exhaling, Shinji continued, "Kyoko…Zeppelin Sohryu, like you, worked on Project E –In her case in the development of the Production Type, Unit-02, in Germany. After your 'failed' contact experiment with Unit-01, new safety protocols were of course implemented to prevent a repeat of that incident. These were first implemented on EVA-02, and it was Asuka's mother Kyoko who volunteered to test out them out

…They weren't enough."

Yui closed her mouth which she only just realised was hanging open, "Y-you mean she was-"

Shinji cut her off with a shake of his head "No, what happened to her wasn't what happened to you, at least not in every sense. The contact experiment caused her to lose all her mental ego boundaries, but not her physical ones. She _literally_ lost her mind..._to_ EVA."

"But that didn't kill her, did it…?" breathed Yui, feeling a creeping dread well up in her from where this was going.

Shinji shook his head, averting his gaze, "No…her body survived. The official statement was that she had been driven insane by her work –a morbid half-truth, perhaps— but you can say it left her an _almost_ completely empty shell."

"And Asuka?"

"She was only five or six at the time I think. Obviously she didn't really understand what had happened to her mother, or why she was acting the way she did."

Yui swallowed a lump in her throat, "So... What happened to Kyoko?"

"In the end, she hung herself," said Shinji, inadvertently causing his already stunned mother to turn even paler. But even so, Shinji felt he had to finish. Inhaling deeply, he continued "And on the day Asuka was selected to be the Second Child...it was _she_ who discovered her body."

"Oh god..." the now sickly white doctor whispered in horror as she fought against visualising the scenario of one of her oldest and closest friends in such a state, a mere shell with a fragment of a soul within. Even worse, was putting herself in Asuka's position at the time.

"So like I said, we could have been a bit more tactful there…"

Yui's eyes widened exasperatingly, "Well excuse _me_ for being out of the loop for so long!" she sobbed, her eyes wet with tears she could no longer contain.

Shinji pushed himself quickly to his feet with urgency and approached his mother. Silently, he put his arms around her and pulled her close as Yui buried her head into his shoulder and cried, "Oh, Kyoko…" she choked, her voice muffled by Shinji's shirt as he rested a hand gently on the back of her head.

"I'm so sorry, mother, "he murmured, rocking her gently against him, "I guess I forgot how hard all this was going to be on you. For me I guess this is just some bizarre occurrence, but for you... I can't imagine what you've gone through for the past eleven years…"

Yui sniffled loudly as she wiped her eyes, trying to compose herself, "I was very lonely, little one…that's all I can say. I really wish I could've made things turn out different for you, for everyone…" she wrapped her arms tightly around Shinji and hugged onto him strongly, to which her son returned equally. He hummed contentedly for a few seconds in her arms before pulling back and composing himself.

"A_nyway_...back to work, and..." Shinji said, his dark blue eyes glancing sideways thoughtfully.

"And what?"

"_Please_ forgive Asuka..."

"For what?" asked Yui with a frown, as Shinji's pull on her began to slip and found reality resurfacing about her.

Shinji's face suddenly winced, as if bracing himself for something, "For this..." he said. Not able to switch with his mother in time and take what was coming for her, Yui awoke just as Asuka's fist swung through the air at her. The doctor flung her arms up just in time, crossing them in front of her. The blow impacted off Yui's lower arm with a wince-inducing _crack_.

"For the last time: _answer!_" Asuka practically roared with the last of her breath, pressing down into Yui's arms with enough strength to force that the doctor onto her knees.

Yui relaxed as she felt the pressure from the redhead's fist vanish relax as she pulled back and allowed the Third Child to her feet.

Yui exhaled and rubbed a hand on her lower arm, "Almost cracked the ulna there. Really not a good day to be a bone in Shinji's arm."

Yui then regarded the Second child with calm patience, "First: Can I ask _you_ a question, Asuka?"

"_What_?" snarled the noticeably angry redhead, neither of them noticing the Saiyan –who'd wisely chosen to stay out of the confrontation – slip of the room as the Capsule Corp phone clipped to his gi began to buzz, indicating an incoming call.

Yui cocked her head, "Do you know what the AT field is?"

Asuka's face once again paled somewhat, her raised fist relaxing and falling down at her side. She remained silent, remembering the time she'd asked that very same question of Shinji the day she'd adopted his recommendation for synchronising with Unit-02.

Yui nodded, realising no answer was coming, "Alright then. In that case answer me this, Asuka-Chan, what was the result of your last synchronisation test with Unit-02?"

Asuka snapped herself out of here revere, "I'm at…eighty-nine point eight per cent on my last test," her brow scrunched into a frown, "Why?"

"_So_... I hazard a guess that you're starting to realise it."

"Realise what?" the now calmer redhead asked.

"Well I suppose for you it'll still be at a subconscious level, but it's most likely the same reason you instantaneously knew I wasn't Shinji the moment you laid eyes on me."

Asuka decided to change angles, "Then where _is_ Shinji?"

Yui just smiled slightly, and tapped the side of her head, "He's right here. I was kind of dragged along for the ride when we lost control of our synchronisation with the EVA. I was almost completely merged with his mind at the time the EVA was deactivated, trapping me where I was at the time. You'll note I said _almost_ completely merged. When the link to Unit-01 was cut off there was left just enough 'breathing room', if you'll forgive the term, to allow for segregation between our minds. This allowed us to keep our ego boundaries separate. So you see-"

"-What in the reddest of red _hell_ are you talking about?" cut in Asuka, her confusion flaming her anger higher at Yui's attempt at a simple explanation.

The doctor chuckled sheepishly, "Heh, sorry about that. I've got a tendency to ramble on at times…"

Asuka, who for a reason which confused even her, strangely found herself believing the strange Shinji look-alike. It was the eyes, realised Asuka. This person had the eyes of someone she felt she could trust, someone she knew but couldn't remember, "Okay. Say I buy your story. Just who the hell are you then? If anything, I know for a fact that the dork couldn't have blocked that blow I hurled at you."

Again, Yui grinned, "Yeah, well, when you have a husband who had tendencies to get into as many bar fights as mine did, there had to be _someone_ there to break them up. I mean, no offence to him, but the poor guy couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag."

Asuka looked stunned for a second, "Your _husband_...? Are you trying to tell me Shinji's been possessed by some kind of gay ghost?"

Yui fought very hard not to facepalm her son. Goku fought very hard not to laugh.

Only the former succeeded.

Yui clenched her fists at her sides, "I am _not _gay!" Yui wasn't helped by her son murmuring in her mind that she was quote 'gay for Gendo'.

Asuka cocked an eyebrow, "I don't know what _planet_ you came from. But here, when a guy has a husband, that tends to be classified as just the teeniest bit gay."

Yui rolled her eyes full-circle and stood up to full height—something that really wasn't as effective as it used to be, and spoke through her teeth, "I… am _not_… a _guy_! Straight, gay, or otherwise!"

"Then what are you?" enquired Asuka, who was totally lost by this point.

This time Yui couldn't prevent the facepalm coming. She wiped her face down. "Childbirth wasn't this painful…" she murmured under her voice. She looked at Asuka dryly, "Well it's a multiple choice question with just two answers. I just eliminated one of them for you. I'll leave you to work out the correct one. "Yui trailed off, waving her hand up in circles, prompting an answer.

Asuka blinked, realisation dawning. She gaped at not-Shinji, "You're a _woman?_"

"Bingo…" muttered Yui.

Goku clapped his hands together and took a step forward. He rested a hand on Yui/Shinji's shoulder, "There we go. Asuka, allow me to introduce you... to Doctor Yui Ikari."

Yui smiled brightly at the Saiyan and then to the girl, bowing formally, "A pleasure to meet you again, Asuka-chan."

Asuka's mind instantaneously brought up the name from her memory and more importantly, just who she was to the boy whose body she now inhabited, "b-but y-you're his…m-muh…" and like her guardian, the overworked mind of the girl caved under the influx of the revelation and promptly passed out on the spot.

Goku sighed tiredly as he watched Asuka flop forwards. He glanced up as he heard Yui's strained voice, "_Really?_" she grunted, the unconscious Asuka slumped against her as the doctor struggled to hold her up, "Is this _really_ going to happen every time I introduce myself?" she asked as she staggered around and laid the girl out on the sofa.

"It's very likely."

Yui cocked her head and wiped her brow, "Well…at least she wasn't nearly as heavy as that Katsuragi woman."

Suddenly the pilot/doctor's body pulsed gold as control switched back to the body's original owner.

Shinji looked down at himself and smiled, "I think I'm getting the hang of this. Though I am saddened that I have to." Perking up, he turned to the Saiyan, "So… you hungry?" he asked, turning to head for the kitchen.

"_Always…_"

-Z-

Shinji didn't hear the front door open as a certain infuriated someone stormed in, the automatic door sliding shut behind her.

It was as Shinji pulled his head out of the fridge that he registered what appeared to be a red and lavender coloured blur lash out and grab him by the scruff of his shirt, slamming him back against the fridge door. The now stunned and panicked pilot managed to identify the blur as a clearly enraged Misato Katsuragi. There was an almost demonic rage in her eyes as she brought her face dangerously close to the pilot's, practically lifting him of his feet "Are you out of your fucking _mind?_"

Shinji merely stammered incoherently in response as his mind momentarily lost the ability to form words.

"Now I don't give a _damn _about what threats you make to me. You said you wanted to look after Shinji, and then you go and-" Misato suddenly froze in mid syllable as her mind registered the colour of the pair of terrified eyes she was staring into. The major blinked, her grip slowly slipping free from Shinji's shirt, "…_Shinji?_"

"Yu-huh…" squeaked the pilot on weak confirmation.

"_Oh_…" she said gingerly, drumming her fingers on her chest uncomfortably, "Umm, could you… put your mother on for a second?" She asked, brushing the creases she'd made in Shinji's shirt as if it would help.

Shinji frowned, gently batting her hand away, "Put her-? Do I look like a cell phone to you?" he rolled his eyes tiredly, "_Fine_, I'll ride shotgun for a while…"

Misato watched as Shinji's body went slack, there was a brief pulse of light and Yui was back in control.

"You rang?" she asked, pushing away from the fridge and around the Operations director. She stretched, reaching to touch her son's back to where she was sure it would soon sport a nasty bruise from being slammed into the fridge.

The Major's anger built again, but she chose not to use physical intimidation this time, this was mainly due to the fact that Yui's left hand was idly tickling the handle of a very shiny bread knife sitting on the counter, "As I _said," _repeated Misato, "are you _out_ of your _mind_?" demanded the Major, slamming her hands down on the table in front of the doctor; unwittingly knocking the knife into Yui's grip as she towered over the doctor.

Yui cocked her head, "Out of my mind…" she mulled the words for a second, "Was that some sort of pun?"

Misato hissed in anger, raising a clenched fist upward. Her eyes flicked down, realising the doctor, without looking, had gripped her hand around the knife and had it arched sideways in her fist. The Major was reminded eerily of the way an EVA would hold a Prog. Knife in preparation to slash at an Angel.

The look in Yui's eyes purveyed no emotion, nor intent. Her expression was terrifyingly blank.

Misato suddenly became very aware of how exposed her throat was.

The Major took a long breath through her nose and lowered her fist, clenching her hands behind her back, "This is me not laughing, Doctor. Do you have _any_ idea what the consequences of your actions may be? Did you even _consider_ Shinji's safety?"

"_Actions_?" echoed a familiar voice as Asuka stood in the doorway, Goku behind her. The Saiyan's ability to explain matters and calm people down had already steadied the usually hot-headed girl after she awakened, "What actions?" asked the girl with Goku listening in curiously.

Misato looked to the figures in the doorway, and back to Yui, "Well? Shall you tell them or shall I?"

The knife dropped to the table with a clatter as Yui rolled her eyes, missing Misato's shoulders sag slightly with relief, "Come on, it wasn't that big a deal. It was only-"

"-it was only assaulting a superior officer!" butted in Misato incredulously.

"He was asking for it!" snapped Yui, stepping forwards to square up to the much taller woman.

"Assault?" said Asuka, taking a step into the kitchen, "W-who got assaulted?"

"Oh come on, I barely _tapped_ him," lied Yui…blatantly.

"You nearly broke his nose!"

"_N__early,_" replied Yui, as if the argument was valid.

"You knocked him flat out!"

"Please, I barely stunned him…"

"Oh, well I'm sure that'll make all the difference!" shouted back Misato, her voice dripping with enraged sarcasm.

"_Wait!" _snapped Asuka, startling them both, "Who are we talking about here?"

Misato turned her head to Asuka and answered in a simple, level tone, "She decked Commander Ikari."

Asuka suddenly fell dead silent for a moment, "You're...joking, right?"

"I'm deathly serious, Asuka."

For a few seconds Asuka's brain worked over the tremendous consequences of such an action. But then, somewhere in the deep, dark depths of the back of her mind, she created a mental image of the actual event.

Misato turned back to the doctor "So, you _see,_ Yui-" Misato was, however, interrupted by Asuka with a strained:

"Pfft..."

Misato turned round to notice the redhead had one hand over her mouth, and seemed to be biting on one of her knuckles, as if trying very hard not to laugh.

She failed.

Misato groaned as Asuka proceeded to crack up into fits of uncontrollable laughter. She paused, seeming to collect herself, took one look at Shinji/Yui, and then went right on laughing.

The German girl eventually had to pause for breath, "Oh, that's just _classic…_" She said, trying to dispel the image of the Commander's shocked expression in the instant before fist met face.

"_ASUKA__!_" shouted Misato, rounding on the readhead, who was now leaning on the doorframe for support, "This is notsomething to laugh over!"

"Oh come on_,_ Misato! Out of all the people in the universe that the Commander thought would _actually_ have the guts to swing him one, how high up in that list did you think Shinji placed?"

Yui tilted her head, unable to stop a small smile breaking out, "I told you he couldn't win a fight to save himself."

"Ha, you weren't kidding! Floored by a kid half his size and a _third_ his age! Even if it _was_ you driving, the dork's really gained a few respect points in my book."

Misato, who was now straining to keep up her professional front, raised her voice again, "Either way!" she snapped, bringing all back to attention, "The commander's up now, and he is out for blood...y_ours!_"

Yui shrugged, "And? I knew he would be sooner or later, but there's really not a damn thing he can do about it."

"He could-" Misato began, but was caught off as Yui interrupted, trying to sound as patient and non-condescending as possible.

"Let me spell it out, Misato. Even if in some bizarre alternate universe Gendo would go so far as to have Shinji shot or such forth, as a result he'd lose the _only_ pilot who can synchronise with Unit-01 in its current condition –and I mean _only _pilot, me being the control mechanism for the EVA and all— and to add to that, if he has us incarcerated or whatnot, we simply _resign_ or refuse to pilot EVA. And boom, he's stuck with a two hundred foot-tall high-maintenance _paperweight._ And I _assure_ you: these are both Shinji's and my own combined feelings on the subject."

"I... see…" And with that, the room fell silent with the exception of Yui humming and swinging back on her char. The doctor nearly fell completely backward as the entire apartment seemed to shake from the force of the three **Thud**s that sounded from the front door.

"Wonder who that is..." Yui said, leaning back further to look at the door, Goku shrugging and wandering off to find out.

The good doctor blinked in surprise as her son's voice, '_Don't worry about it, mom. It's just father's hired goons. They usually come to pick me up when he wants to chat about something. Though they do sound a tad more insistent than usual…Now why could that be, I wonder?'_

Yui twiddled her thumbs, realising she hadn't explained about what she did to his father, nor apologised for the trouble they were about to get in.

Shinji gave a small chuckle, _'Don't worry about it, Mom. I kind of started laughing along with Asuka.'_

Yui breathed a small sigh of relief, looking up as she heard the front door slide open.

-Z-

The usual three agents assigned to pilot/operations-related security issues in this area, (or Ichigo Hideki, Takuya Kaido and Tatewaki Sainoji as their friends knew them) stood waiting impatiently. Unlike each of their prior visits, all three had their weapons already drawn and were seconds away from bashing the door in. Sainoji was also ready with the standard 3-ring NERV issue handcuffs.

Each had to admit that they found the event unexpected: a call from an unusually irked Supreme Commander to arrest the Third Child on the charge of both treason and assault upon a superior officer, and that they'd been ordered to use any force deemed necessary in his apprehension.

The only reason they had drawn their weapons was not because of any danger the Third Child represented, but because of Major Katsuragi's possession of a MK III Universal Service Pistol. Her personal feelings for her charges was one of the things that made her both dangerous and endearing to those under her command.

All three secretly prayed the Major would listen to reason, and that there wouldn't be any real obstacle to their duty behind that door when it opened. Then the door _did _open…

…and out stepped Son Goku.

All three took a step back.

"Hello, gentlemen," said the Saiyan with unnerving pleasantness, "and how may I help you today?"

Takuya coughed once and inhaled, stepping back to his previous position. Assuming he was right in his assumption of why the Saiyan blocked their path (and he was) then a very difficult conundrum presented itself: do they attempt to force their way in and have their NERV life insurance policies voided under the suicide clause, widowing their wives and leaving their children fatherless; or do they take the only other option available:

They ask nicely.

"Is Shinji Ikari here?"

Goku just smiled, "And then some," he said, immediately going silent and still not budging from the doorway.

Takuya took a subtle breath and spoke in as level and professional way a person can when you might very well be about to pick a fight with a mountain-shattering superbeing, "Shinji Ikari is to be placed under arrest for crimes against NERV. He is to be taken into headquarters immediately."

Goku nodded as he hummed thoughtfully, "_Okay. S_o…what's your point?"

The men glanced at each other. Takuya looked back at the Saiyan, "So...we need to arrest him."

"_Really?"_ intoned Goku.

The men shifted uncomfortably, "Yes…so…"

Goku cocked his head, "So what?"

Takuya spared his colleagues a quick glance, "So…step aside, sir."

Goku looked off, humming as if considering it, "Hmmmm…..no."

Takuya blinked, his hand becoming sore from how tight it was gripping the barrel of his gun.

There was a long, _long_ moment of silence, "…_please_ step aside, sir."

"Hmmm, since you asked so nicely….no."

Ichigo, fear overriding his common sense, lost grip of his instinct and cocked his NERV service revolver and levelled it at the Saiyan, the aim shifting as he tried to decide where head met hair, "S-step aside, sir!" he barked, trying to stop the gun in his hand trembling.

Goku blinked, his eyes crossing to look down the barrel. The Saiyan merely chuckled, reached up, and took the barrel between his thumb and forefinger and pinched it closed.

The men froze, as if waiting for an invisible death to leap out and claim them.

Goku looked from man to man, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

The agents opened and closed their mouths in a very good imitation of a trio of goldfishes, and Goku was about to bid them good day, when a tired sigh came up from behind him.

"It's okay, Goku," said Yui, stepping out in front of him, "I knew this would be coming sooner or later. The only thing that can happen is that this escalates beyond control until there really will be bloodshed. I think its best I go and face Gendo now."

A look of worry flashed over Goku's face, "Are you sure about this? I mean, you don't have to if you don't-"

"-I want to..." cut in Yui suddenly. She cocked her head up and round to smile at the Saiyan, "I wouldn't mind the company on the way though."

Yui turned to the agents, who were unable to hide the relief on their faces, "Okay, boys," said Yui coyly, holding her hands out in front of her, "I'm coming in quietly."

Takuya nodded and stepped forwards, pulling Yui's arms behind her in his strong grip to cuff her, "Oh my…" said Yui, giggling slightly.

'_MOM!'_ snappedShinji from within.

'Just making sure I didn't absorb your orientation. Yup, mommy's straight as an arrow.'

'_I'm so happy for you…'_grumbled Shinji in a most un-happy way.

Yui cocked her head back at Goku, "I hope you don't mind, but I'm bringing my lawyer here with me too."

"Your…lawyer?" echoed Ichigo, warily eyeing Goku.

Yui nodded, "Yup. However I feel it only fair to warn you in advance: what Goku may define as 'mounting a legal defence' could vary somewhat from the traditional definition."

Takuya spoke on reflex, "No unauthorised-" Goku cocked a single eyebrow up.

And Takuya immediately chose to shut up.

They settled on leading the 'Third Child' away, very aware of the one walking slowly behind them.

Needless to say, the agent was being very gentle with someone he was supposed to be 'dragging into headquarters in chains' as the angry commander had ordered.

Goku passed a reassuring look to Misato over his shoulder as they vanished into the stairwell.

For the rest of their days, the three agents would remember the journey back as the most uncomfortable car ride in their lives.

-Z-

Not long after, the three section two agents, pilot and Saiyan warrior were striding through the halls of NERV central.

It goes without saying that the three agents were beginning to feel a tad superfluous, especially considering their captive was the one leading the way, and Goku was between him and them.

They were at their destination before they knew it.

Shinji, who had retaken control on the ride over, suddenly stopped, shuddering as he imagined the demonically enrage visage of his father within. He suddenly felt an anxiety creep up on him, and anxiety that he only ever experienced prior to a battle with an Angel.

"Goku..." said Shinji suddenly, staring at the doors in front of him.

"Hmm?"

"I...I think its best I go in alone."

"Are you sure?" asked Goku worriedly, the three agents having long since given up objecting to something they had no control or influence over.

Goku was finding his promise to protect the boy difficult to keep considering Shinji kept willingly putting himself in danger. He looked in the boy's eyes for a second, reading his expression. The Saiyan let out a defeated breath, "_Okay_...but I'm staying right out here. Just call if you need me."

Shinji smiled appreciatively, "Thanks, Goku. Although, there is just _one_ thing you could do before I go in..."

'_Let me talk to him,'_ Came Yui's voice as Shinji prepared to enter.

'But-'

'_Don't worry any more, little one,' _said Yui in a tone that both calmed and soothed Shinji to the core, extinguishing his anxiety, '_Just leave it all up to me…'_

-Z-

The darkness of the commander's office hid quite easily the bruise on Gendo's face. It wasn't however enough to hide the almost murderous look that he shot his son as he entered and strode calmly across his office, stopping in the usual place.

Yui's attention was drawn to the grey-clad figure of Kozo Fuyutski, and then to Ritsuko, who stood behind the commander's other shoulder. Yui's eyes then trailed to the 9mm pistol resting in the valley between the commander's arms.

"I'm going to give you one chance to explain your actions, _Pilot_, and then to give me one reason not to have you shot for your crimes," said Gendo, his tone icy enough to refreeze the Antarctic, Yui's trained ear clearly detecting the rage underneath.

'Wow…Shinji was right to be worried. He is _pissed._'

'_And whose fault might that be?'_

Yui didn't respond to her son and instead smiled warmly at Gendo, whose brow clenched even deeper at the reaction, "It's nice to see you again too... _Gen-Chan,_" said Yui, her hands tensed behind her back to give the illusion that Goku _hadn't_ torn the handcuffs off just outside the door.

Fuyutski gaped clearly at the reply. Ritsuko rolled her eyes, the doctor having expected something like this to happen. The doctor also justhappened to have forgotten to inform the commander of this particular development. She took almost perverse amusement at his confusion and the way his right eyebrow twitched.

Gendo's teeth seemed to glint in the darkness as he glowered at his son, "You act with treason and explain with insubordination. You have pushed for my hand for the last time, Third Child." The commander's quietly furious tone made Shinji shudder inside, Yui however was left unfazed.

"_Grow up_, Gendo." Spat Yui, and the commander was lucky he was sitting as he was, else Yui would've seen the man's jaw drop for the first time in a decade.

Yui took the same patient breath a parent might take when dealing with a rowdy child before smiling tiredly. She stepped forward to the edge of the shaft of light that illuminated the area around the commander's desk.

Closing her eyes to hide their current shade, Yui chuckled, "Ahh, I _see_… Ritsuko hasn't told you yet, has she?"

Despite the annoyance of the younger commander, both their faces twitched in to confused frowns, glancing at the blonde doctor, who immediately shrank back, "W-well, I was more concerned with assessing the Commander's state of well-being. I completely forgot to-"

"Forgot to what, doctor?" interrupted Gendo, loathing when people wasted his time with pointless excuses that he didn't care about either way.

Ritsuko inhaled as if to brace herself, crossing her arms around her clipboard and hugging it to herself, "It seems that the ego borderlines resident within Evangelion Unit-01's core, and indeed the entire control system, have… _migrated_…via the A10 linkup. They're now currently resident within the neural cortex…of Shinji Ikari."

There was a long moment with no reaction from either Commander as they gaped openly at Ritsuko. Both the blonde scientist and Yui found some amusement in the way the commander's steepled hands peeled away from each other, both commanders turning in tandem to regard the Third Child in abject shock.

Yui's calm smile stretched subtly into a smirk. She opened her eyes and stepped into the light before the commanders, "it really has been a while... Gendo...Fuyutski-Sensei," said Yui calmly, staring into Gendo's widened dark eyes over the rim of his glasses.

"_Yui..._" breathed Gendo, sliding numbly to his feet and staring with utter disbelief into his formerly dearly departed's eyes.

"Stop right there, Gendo," snapped Yui, freezing Gendo to the spot, half-standing, "before this turns weird," she paused to cock her head, "_Well, w_eird_er. _You wanted an explanation as to why you just got knocked on your ass by your fourteen year old son? Well I have access to nearly all of Shinji's memories about you since the day I was taken into Unit-01," she rested her palms on the desk and leaned right into Gendo's face, "So why don't you go right ahead and hazard a god damned _guess_."

Gendo found himself reeling back from those eyes, sinking back down into his chair "All I _did_ was-"

The calm veil of Yui's composure was tossed aside, "You _abandoned _our four year old son right after his own mother's _funeral!_" roared the enraged doctor, slamming her fists down into either side of the commander's desk and causing him to flinch right back in his seat.

"Why aren't you restrained…?" enquired Gendo, only just noticing and staring agape as he met his wife's enraged glare, her green eyes burning into him like fire.

"_Oh_, you can thank Goku for that little number. Such a nice man, and it saddens me that I've only known him –a damned _space alien— for _a day and I alreadytrust him with my son's life infinitely more than my own goddamned _husband_!" Yui punctuated the sentence by slamming her fists again.

Fuyutski spoke up in as calm a tone as he could muster "Please, Yui... Just let us explain-"

"Shut up, Sensei!" barked Yui, snarling at the older man and stabbing a finger at him, "Oh I'll get to you in a moment…"

Fuyutski suddenly looked uncharacteristically agape "_M_e? What did I-" but he was cut off again by the woman on a warpath.

"-What did you _do?_" she asked, and the old man suddenly realised that she'd decided to skip that moment and get right to him, "What did you _DO, _you ask? Well I'll _tell you_: I trusted you to try and keep my husband on the right path even after losing me, and _what__ do you do?_

You did nothing, Kozo Fuyutski…You turned yourself into a glorified _yes-man!_"

Fuyutski only just realised he'd pinned himself back against the wall, as if trying to escape that bright, furious stare, "But we were only _trying to_-"

"Oh…" said Yui, waving a finger between them and pacing a few steps, "I know what you were trying to do. I know what your plan is…" She spun back around and slammed her fists back into the wood with such force that Gendo yelped slightly, "The damned _INSTRUMENTALITY PROJECT!"_ roared Yui incredulously, her voice so loud that it was probably heard three floors up. Both commanders suddenly looked about, as if worried someone had heard those two forbidden words.

Yui continued speaking, "You know how hard I tried to continue my research into perfecting the technology needed to protect the Earth from future Angel attacks, and even possibly someday help to restore the biosphere back to how it was before. All the while managing to hold off that disgusting snake_ Lorenz_'s attempts to pervert its course towards his sick, insane wish of becoming one with god! They were _insane. _No, sorry, wrong tense _are insane!_ They want to destroy all life and pulp everyone's minds together into one great mess in some freakish hope of achieving _perfection._ Well let me tell you this, Gendo Ikari: It will _fail_, one way or the other." At that she reached over and peeled Gendo's glasses off, setting them down on the desk between them. She leaned over, right into his face until he could feel the heat from her brow, "From this day on, you're no longer in control here; neither is SEELE…and not even the Saiyans," She slowly pointed a thumb at her face, "_I am_. That's right, Gendo: Mommy's back…and she's taking charge. You may consider that a declaration of fact. Contest it…and it's a declaration of _war_. And that's a war you won't win."

Yui let the words hang in the air for a moment before peeling herself away from the desk, turned about, and walked off.

Gendo found his voice before Yui got half-way across the office, "I only ever wanted us to be together again… I never meant to hurt him. I took the chance just to be with you once more...Even if that meant you'd hate me when the time came."

Yui halted in her stride. She didn't turn about but Gendo saw her shoulders sag as she let out a weary breath, her gaze falling.

She looked back up again, "I don't _hate_ you, Gendo. God help me, I don't think I ever could. I'm just..._disappointed_. I guess my expectations of you were just too high. _B__ut," _said Yui, pausing to tap the side of her borrowed head, her tone a note lighter than before, "I suppose, if _he _still has the capacity to forgive you then –and I can't swear it, nor can I swear that I won't hurl another random act of violence in your direction in the meantime- then _perhaps_… "

Yui trailed off into silence, as if hesitating to finish the sentence. After a pause, she just carried right on walking again, leaving the end of that sentence hanging in the air, "Good day, Doctor, Sensei…Gen-chan."

Ritsuko found herself stunned less at Yui's words and more at the commander's first genuine show of emotion since they'd met.

Fuyutski was just stunned period.

And Gendo, w_ell,_ Gendo didn't know _what_ to think. And so he did the only thing he found himself capable of in such rare events:

Command.

"It would seem things have taken an unexpected turn..."

Fuyutski blinked, still staring forward agape and not quite sure how to respond to the understatement, "Yes, Ikari…that's one way of putting it."

"It would seem then that we have no choice but to advance our schedule somewhat. Doctor…"

"Y-yes, sir?" stammered Ritsuko as levelly as she could.

"There is a good chance Unit-01 has been rendered inoperable. We therefore must have the delivery of Evangelion Unit-03 pushed up."

"Yes sir." Said Ritsuko, somewhat agape and more than a little impressed that Ikari could be so level-headed right after having a run-in with someone he had thought dead for over a decade.

"And…" added Gendo.

"Yes sir?"

"Just in case the Third's piloting skill has been affected by these…_events_…begin preparations to recruit the Forth. I assume we have at least one candidate ready?"

Ritsuko could feel guilt pang at her from inside for some reason, but she sucked it up and answered truthfully, "Yes, sir. There is one available…"

-Z-

Yui found Goku waiting outside of the office. 'Shinji…'

'_Yes, mother?' _he asked, a note of concern in his voice.

'I'm going to block you out for a little bit. I promise I'm not going to do anything. It's just I-'

'_It's okay…' _cut in Shinji gently.

Confusion and anger tore through Yui. She had gone in ready to hate him. She had been _resolved_ to it...

And then the bastard had the audacity to prove that somewhere, deep inside, he was still in there. Yui's heart felt like it was being pulled in three. Joy, rage, disappointment, sadness, fear…love; Yui didn't know _what_ to feel any more.

Goku asked no questions, and didn't flinch as Yui Ikari stepped numbly forward, buried her face in his chest…and cried.

-Z-

_To be continued…_

-XA-

[A/N] Wow, this one turned out long. If you're still here, thanks for sticking with me. But as I said, this was where things got _long_, and they're only going to get longer. This one ended up expanding about 3500 words at last count, and it was a lot of fun fleshing Yui out a bit more. And as always, the end notes are always written after a chapter is finished, the opening notes being before I start. And I'll apologise in advance if there's a delay in the next chapter. I assure you it'll not be due to any lack of slacking on my behalf. Until then…

See you in Chapter 22: Differentiating


	22. Chapter 22: Differentiating

[A/N] And here we are again, glad this one didn't take too long to come out, just had something small to work on in the interim that came to mind, but you're right in that this has been neglected far too long. To be honest, it actually takes far longer to rewrite one of these chapters as I have been doing than to just write them , but I feel that's necessary in order to remain faithful to the original source material. Well, this one started out as 16,258 words to begin with, so lord knows how long it'll be by the end. And they only get longer from here...let's continue…

**Chapter 22: Differentiating**

It was at some point during the night that as their shared body lay sleeping, mother and child had the opportunity to speak face to face (so to speak) once more.

"You know, it's kind of eerie..." said Shinji, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the melodic lapping of the waves against the shore around them. Shinji himself was currently laying on his back staring upward, his head nestled in the safety of his mother's lap.

"What is?" enquired Yui calmly as she idly ran her fingers through her son's hair, "Is it knowing in advance what you'll dream about each night?"

"Hmm, no, it's nothing like that," the Third's smile faltered a fraction of an inch. It was a barely perceptible reaction, but Yui somehow detected it and cast her gaze downward, her arms wrapping slowly about his shoulders protectively, surprisingly finding them chilled slightly. She felt him relax at her touch, "My dreams...aren't usually a pleasant experience," at that, he narrowed his eyes and summoned up the memories

Yui flinched as an image seemed to stab at her very soul with a crash: the flash of a blurred and barely recognisable memory of Unit-01, still in production, just prior to the contact experiment…the one she had taken him to.

Yui hissed a breath in shock, but it wasn't over…

Another crash echoed over the landscape, and then came that image of Gendo walking away again and Shinji not even five years old, standing alone without a mother and watching as his father abandoned him for reasons he couldn't comprehend.

Shinji sighed, "Once more with feeling..."

Another crash, and it was Unit-01 again. Only this time it was its reflection in a nearby building, its head casing having been shattered off by the Third Angel's self-destruction and exposing its inhuman, yet horrifyingly aware green eye, which focused curiously and with alien intelligence on the helpless pilot.

The image exploded away from Yui's view as the normal dreamscape came instantly back around her. Those few brief images however had her gripping onto her child with instinctive protectiveness.

She stared straight ahead, her mouth open. There was a cold sweat clearly visible on her normally calm features.

Having born witness to the images countless times, Shinji was unfazed, and so his voice was both calm and conversational when he spoke, "So as you can see: this is…kind of an improvement on the old routine," he then looked up and noticed, to his concern, that his mother still stared vacantly ahead with abject horror.

Things went silent as the doctor breathed shakily. Her arms trembled around Shinji's shoulders, "Shinji...your hopes… your dreams...this is all there is? This is all you get to dream of?" asked Yui, her voice thick with emotion.

Shinji had the disturbing feeling that he was about to make his mother cry.

He laughed weakly, desperate to reassure her "Well it's not like I had much of a say in the matter. But don't worry about it. It's not like I've dreamt about any of that stuff for months now. Lately my dreams have been –when not engaged in forcing self-revelations upon me- much more," he paused to allow a small grin to tug at his lips, "…_pleasant._"

Yui choked a laugh out and gave Shinji a playful ruffle of his hair. She rested her head down on top of his to wrap her arms about his waist, "cheeky boy..."

Shinji's grin widened slightly as he rested back against his mother, his hands resting gently atop hers. He hummed in thought as he regarded the world around him. Shinji felt his mother's chin shift slightly as she looked down, "What's wrong?" she asked

"I just thought of something else that's strange."

"What's that?"

"This:" he said, nodding at the landscape in front of them "It's like…I'm _dreaming, _but I'm also, I don't know, _awake _somehow_. _And yet I feel so calm and relaxed here, as if I actually were asleep…"

"Strictly speaking, you are still dreaming, Shinji. It may be a very lucid and clear dream thanks to both of our consciousness' entwining to form it, but it's still a dream nonetheless. So I wouldn't worry about feeling tired when you wake up in the morning. If you want, you can still fall into a deeper level of REM sleep if you'd prefer a more dreamless state, but that's up to you."

Shinji's already serene smile widened a touch as he realised she had both sensed, voiced and addressed his worry all in one go. He settled back, "I think I'm fine right here."

"I'm glad…"

As if on an afterthought, Shinji raised an accusing eyebrow, "and I wish you'd stop reading my mind like that."

Yui grinned softly down at her son, playfully ruffling his hair again with her chin, "Didn't; it was written all over your face. I may not have been around as much as I wanted to when you were growing up, but a mom can still tell these things."

Shinji smiled weakly back, "Then I guess I just have to worry about tomorrow then. Unless that is, I could just _not_-"

"-_No,_ Shinji..." cut in Yui in a gentle yet firm tone.

"What?" asked the child innocently.

"I'm not having you skipping off school for no good reason."

"No good reason?" echoed Shinji incredulously, his mouth agape at the comment. After a few seconds of shock, his face slid into a wide smile, "Five minutes out of the EVA and you're already asserting your motherhood. You really don't waste any time, do you?"

Yui smiled similarly back, "Never was one for procrastinating…"

Shinji relaxed back into his mother's chest, his smile softening as he let the world around him become pleasantly hazy as his dream continued in a tranquil silence...

-Z-

Shinji Ikari would've been all too happy to remain in his little dream world for an apparent eternity. However, many of the nice things in the Third Child's life did have a bad habit of being rudely interrupted.

This was no exception to that rule.

"Get up…" came two simple words that had Shinji being dragged back to the waking world.

Sleepily, Shinji rubbed his eyes and rolled his still-fatigued body over to take stock of the situation. Though sleep addled, the young man's mind managed to take stock of several facts that were at hand: Firstly, that hadn't been his alarm that had awoken him; Secondly, from the lack of light coming in through his window, Shinji could tell the sun wasn't up yet. And finally the third thing: just what, or more to the point _whom,_ had woken him from his slumber.

"A-Asuka?" slurred Shinji sleepily as he recognised the silhouette of his still sundress-clad housemate in the doorway.

She stalked silently into his room and walked over to his desk, where a pair of black trousers and white shirt lay neatly folded across the back of a chair.

Grasping the articles of clothing, Asuka tossed them on to the bed in front of Shinji along with a pair of loafers. She then finally decided to speak, "Get dressed," she said in as equally an abrupt voice as before. She then turned about and left the room, sliding the door shut with a kick of her foot as if on an afterthought.

Shinji regarded the clothes sprawled out before him in silence for a few seconds before choosing simply to comply. He proceeded to get dressed in silence before slipping out of his room. He stopped dead just outside.

He found the Second Child waiting expectantly directly across from his door.

Shinji stared warily at his co-worker for a moment as his still befuddled mind took in the situation. He then chose to break the silence, "Have you been awake all night?" he asked with a note of curiosity as he only just registered that she was still donned in the clothes from the previous night, that and the decidedly weary look in her usually bright sapphire eyes.

"Couldn't sleep…" She replied back with a murmur, cocking her head slightly.

Shinji made to turn towards the kitchen, "W-well if you'd like, I could make you some-" he was sharply interrupted however as the palm of Asuka's hand shot up and smacked into the wall directly in front of his face, cutting off his path.

"Other way, Third Child, we're going for a _walk_…" ordered Asuka, her tone cold and simmering with dark undertones.

Shinji suppressed a gulp as he peeled slowly away from the wall that he'd flinched up against before turning towards the front door, the auburn-haired girl shadowing a few steps behind.

The Third Child stole a sidelong glance at the girl as she fell into pace a half-step ahead of him. He noticed the almost sickly paleness of her cheeks and the borderline lifeless quality her eyes held. The only thing that reassured him was how her voice still held a slight commanding edge. He took this to mean that she at least hadn't completely zoned out, and that whatever it was haunting the girl's thoughts seemed to have merely drained all the energy from her.

"Follow me…" She instructed, her tone still holding no emotion as she bypassed the two elevators and headed for the stairwell. Shinji picked up his pace ever-so slightly when it's dawned on him where she was going.

-Z-

Asuka waited on the threshold of the doorway to the rooftop, allowing Shinji to pass. Once he had taken a few steps out into the open, she took one step forward and reached down and around the doorway to silently reveal a concealed chain. She nimbly slipped the chain through door's handle after closing it and then fed it round the corner to where a small steel loophole extended out from the wall. Finally, her right hand swept down and scooped up a large padlock in order to complete her act of binding the door closed with a rounding 'click' of the lock.

Shinji, who had been engrossed in stretching out and yawning, found his brow twitching at the sound of the lock closing. He swung back around just in time to catch Asuka dusting her hands down and surveying her handiwork with satisfaction, "Wh-What the hell are you doing?" stammered a now visibly panicked Shinji, who then frowned in confusion, "And come to think of it, where the hell did you _get_ all that stuff?"

Still staring at the door, Asuka answered quietly, "You'd be surprised just what kind of stores are open 24 hours, Shinji..." she regarded the door in thought for another few seconds before turning slowly about to face Shinji, who now bore a very disturbed look on his face. He winced further in panic when the redhead began to slowly advance on him, "You've been around me a bit more, just like you promised, but there's still one thing that's not changed: your evasiveness." She took another step closer, "But not this time. No tiptoeing around questions; no slipping away, _no escape. _Not this time Shinji..."

Shinji began backing up in time with the Second Child's advancing steps "N-now l-look, Asuka, whatever this is about I'm sure we can talk it through like mature young-"

"-That's the general idea, _Third Child_..." cut in Asuka, her voice picking up more and more of its usual flare with each word.

"What then?" asked Shinji, still appearing quite defensive.

"_Yeah_, You were right: I have been up all night…thinking…about what's happened: about what's happened to me; and now what's happened to you, and I've drawn a blank." her features knitted into a scowl, "I want answers, Shinji, and you've got them. And neither of us is getting off of this roof until you _tell me_ what I want to know!"

Shinji's expression was frozen, but his brain had gone into panic. He would later realise that he couldn't begrudge the redhead a certain amount of respect for managing to corner him like she had.

As Asuka continued to stare him down, Shinji realised that there really _was_ no backing away this time. Sure, he could _try_ and hold off the redhead until help came, but he was sure the pilot of Unit-02 could inflict some serious pain and torment between now and then if she so chose.

Shinji turned around and paced slowly up to the chain link fence that surrounded the roof, resting his forehead flat against it. The pilot let out a weary breath as he regarded the city before him...

"Darkest before dawn..." he whispered ironically.

"You say something?"

"No nothing, nothing..." he dismissed with a sigh before peeling himself away. Turning around, he took a few steps forward before stopping alongside of the redhead.

He tilted his head into a nod but didn't turn to look at her directly, "_A__lright then_. You say you have _questions –_although I suspect it really only boils down to _one,_ but I'm willing to give you some leeway for rambling- _So...a_sk away," said Shinji, smiling as Asuka proceeded to open her mouth. Shinji suddenly raised a finger up however, cutting her off before she could get a word in edgewise,"-_But…_" he snapped, his smile vanishing into an uncharacteristically serious frown the likes of which Asuka had never seen on his face before. He took her silence as a cue to continue, "From after this warning, everything we talk about doesn't leave the confines of this roof, and no matter what I say, no matter what you may or may not learn, you _cannot_ freak out about it. You can't _mope_ about it. Hell, it would not be an understatement for me to say that it could be dangerous if you even batted an _eyelash_ in a different direction from normal. We are talking that level of secrecy."

He turned to face her, "Think you can handle it?" he asked.

Asuka's eyes did flinch ever-so slightly, but even if Shinji did notice, she hid her momentary reservation well. And so, in true style, she crossed her arms and swung away from the young man, "Hmph! If you think you're going to intimidate me, Third Child, then you're dead wrong!"

"Alright..." said Shinji quietly; his face expression frozen in its previous façade, "..._Go for it._"

Asuka opened her mouth to speak, but it was clear that her resolve had been dented slightly when she finally did talk, "What about your _passenger_?" she asked, pointing to Shinji's forehead, "Doesn't she want in on our little conversation?"

Shinji rolled his eyes, "I am far, _far_ too tired to explain the nitty-gritty finites of the situation between me and her, so I'll just cut to the chase and say she's still... _sleeping._"

"'_Sleeping_'," echoed Asuka dryly, "Even though you're-"

"_-_Accept it, Asuka," interrupted Shinji in a tone so uncharacteristically impatient that it briefly shocked the redhead into silence before he continued, "Now…you've got me where you want me, so tell me: What do you want to know?"

"_So_," Asuka breathed, "Just you and me then...Good," she said, nodding as she turned to pace a few steps slowly back and forth.

"I'll say again, Asuka: _Ask._"

Asuka did a double take, as if recomposing herself before speaking...

"Fine, then I'll ask again: The AT field, what is it?" She asked in as simple and nonchalant a way as possible. Her subtle change in posture and aura however would only be noticeable to someone who actually knew her well: there was the subtle taking in of breath following the question; the squaring of the shoulders; the slight narrowing of the eyes and the minute bowing of her head. To anyone else it would appear sure and cocky, but to anyone who _knew_ Asuka, they could tell that she wasn't acting cocky, nor was she trying to separate herself from the situation mentally. No_, _this was nothing so grand, yet still she disguised it with such practiced accuracy that Freud himself would've hung up his pipe trying to figure it out.

Asuka was merely bracing herself.

Shinji stayed silent, his expression remaining unchanged for a moment. Finally, he allowed a small smile to creep onto his features, "_Good question_," he said, trying not to sound patronising, "Although, if I may, can I ask what brought this on?"

"Your mother," said Asuka quietly, "She died in an activation experiment with Unit-01, didn't she?"

Shinji inclined his head in acknowledgement, "I suppose you could put it that way…"

"You _suppose_?" demanded Asuka tersely.

Shinji shrugged his shoulders slightly, "Define death…" he mused almost whimsically.

"Stop _pussyfooting,_ Shinji!" snapped Asuka, agitation clear in her tone, and it was obvious she was nearing the end of her tether.

"_Alright_..." exhaled Shinji, relenting, "Where to begin?" he wondered out loud.

"Well why don't you just start at the beginning. Namely precisely _how_ your supposedly dead mom ended up sharing a brain with you."

Shinji couldn't help but chuckle to himself, "Oh, Asuka, to call that the beginning is like cutting everything but the last page out of a book."

"Cutting to the chase is what I call it."

Shinji nodded, "Alright then, latest question first: Now, this may take a while to accurately answer, so bear with me 'cause I'm guessing this is all heading to the same answer anyway." He once more strolled idly over to the fence to look out into the darkness as he spoke, "_My_ mother…lost control of her synchronisation with Unit-01 during the thirteenth contact experiment and, as a result, lost all of her ego-boundaries to the point where even her _physical_ form was completely lost. And _so, _she became one with EVA. It took her from father...and from me," Shinji paused, his eyes focused on something faraway, "the day I lost my mother pretty much destroyed my entire life…at least until recently," Shinji's voice began resonate with resentment, his calm starting to shake.

"So..." said Asuka, "You're saying that the reason it would go berserk was-"

"-_H__er_," interjected Shinji quietly, "Yes, you catch on quick, Asuka."

Asuka's tone dropped to barely over a whisper, "B-but that would mean…that the A.T. field is…" and Shinji could see it: the horrible, mounting realisation that started to dawn in Asuka's eyes as the pieces fell into place. Shinji concealed the grim smile that graced his features when he realised he wouldn't even need to complete her statement.

"Yes," said Shinji, "And you've felt it too, haven't you: That constant, all-enveloping warmth that surrounds you in the entry plug, even when the field itself isn't actually deployed. What creates the _actual_ defensive barrier...is her soul, _amplified_ through the power of the EVA itself."

"No..." Asuka breathed, shaking her head as she backed away from the Third Child, as if to try and escape the truth that was reaching out to grasp her, "No, it _can't be_…"

Shinji smiled without humour, "I'm sorry, Asuka…but I'm afraid it _can,_ and unfortunately in this case, _is…_"

"No!" she snapped suddenly, "_N__o_, you're _wrong!_"

Shinji spoke back, a mask of calm once more, "you _know_ I'm not."

"You _are_!" She shrieked in frustrated rage and confusion.

Shinji understood that he was shaking the very foundations of Asuka's perceptions of reality, but that didn't mean he couldn't get frustrated himself; this wasn't exactly an easy subject for him either.

He felt his teeth start to grind unconsciously in his mouth, "The proof is right in _front_ of you, Asuka. Your sync ratio is practically 90 percent. You've begun to embrace her like I advised you to; you've _asked _and now I've _answered! _Key, please."

Asuka was now shaking as she desperately threw up her usual defence mechanism: namely by focusing fear and shock into pure anger, "My Mother didn't die in a _contact experiment_!"

"Yes she _**did!**_" Shinji snapped with a deafening shout, his stress and frustration over all the secrets he was keeping briefly boiling over, stunning the Second Child into absolute silence.

Shinji's shoulders heaved as he gasped for air. He continued, "Kyoko... Zeppelin Sohryu, in a contact experiment with your Evangelion Unit-02, lost all of her mental ego-boundaries to the EVA's core." He went silent for a few seconds before continuing, "So here's the truth, Asuka, this is what you wanted to know: What was left..._w__asn't_ your mother. That thing on the bed was nothing more than an empty shell, working off a mere imprint burned into her form by her soul. She was just a _remnant_, Asuka…"

Silence descended for nearly five minutes as the two pilots stared each other down, the light of dawn peaking over the horizon to illuminate their features.

"But you knew all this already," said Shinji, "didn't you? Deep down…you knew."

Asuka averted her gaze.

"Now then, Asuka, tell me again: Am I wrong?" Shinji didn't really class this as a question. To him it was entirely rhetorical.

It did however hang in the air for yet another minute as the now half-terrified redhead stared off into the distance, a scant few feet from the composed Third Child. Then, without so much as a flinch or change of her now pale features, Asuka whispered, "...No."

Shinji turned towards her and began approaching. He stopped when the Second Child's voice spoke out, "You're right…I _did_ already know."

He cocked his head, "I usually am. But remember what I said: reveal nothing to anyone, not even to Misato."

Asuka snapped out of her trance, narrowing her eyes at Shinji, "but _why_?"

Shinji inclined his head, a small smile on his face, "You just need to ask yourself why they might have chosen to hold something so personally important to both of us back unless they were trying to hide something major, or perhaps something horrible? Now, unless you think you have the backing to take on any and all _nasties_ NERV may have stashed up its sleeve, then I recommend you keep what you just heard here _strictly_ between us, agreed?"

Asuka's expression froze as her fatigued mind raced for a moment. She then responded with a slow, silent nod.

Shinji took another step closer," I will say this much: I do know one of the reasons they didn't tell us."

"And what's that?"

"Because it might help us heal, and they consider our neurosis keys to keeping us on a leash. They knew that as long as you were ruled by your pride and obsession to please others; to make up for what you saw as your mother abandoning you, then you would be at their beckon call. It's the same with the issues I had with my father."

"They wanted me...as a _doll?_" Asuka whispered, her fist starting to clench tightly at her side.

Shinji stopped by her, sliding his hand down her arm and to her hand. He cupped her clenched fist gently for a moment before gently easing it open until the flats of their palms met. She dropped the key she held there into Shinji's hand.

Shinji, closed her hand and rested his hands gently on her shoulders, "Look at me, Asuka."

She complied, turning her eyes to him.

"I'm going to make this okay. Trust me. I can't tell you how, but before this war is over, everything will be as it should be…"

Shinji squeezed her shoulders briefly before releasing her. He then swung around and walked slowly away. In truth, he felt panged with guilt, mainly due to the fact that he had withheld nearly all of the actual truth from his redheaded counterpart; but even an idiot like him could see that she wouldn't have been able to handle any more at that point.

Asuka's question had been answered, and he had told her what he felt she really did need to know. He just hoped everything would be resolved before Asuka discovered the horrible truth about what they were being used as pawns to eventually bring about.

A vain hope it might have been, but it was hope alone that allowed Shinji to stave off the nightmarish thoughts about what upcoming events might do to those he cared for most deeply...

-Z-

After a long discussion with Misato, Shinji left the now slumbering Second Child to her rest and then headed off to school alone. Shinji found himself both relieved and decidedly disappointed however that his romantic interest was nowhere in sight. He wanted to see Rei dearly, but he really wasn't ready to confront the issue of his mother with her yet.

Shinji's eyes however held a suspicious look as he glanced back at Rei's vacant seat, remembering the NERV intel he'd read. He suddenly winced in slight shock however as his wandering mind was brought back to reality by a stern voice from within.

'_Concentrate, Shinji...'_

'I _was _concentrating,' The pilot retorted lamely, doing his best to convince his inner not-himself that he was indeed concentrating on the brain numbing maths problems in front of him.

'_You do realise the futility of trying to lie to me, don't you?_'

'And you do remember that we made an agreement about you prying into my mind without prior permission, right?'

'_I do. And I wasn't prying. The fact that you_'ve _stared back at that seat by the window no less than twelve times in the past five minutes, combined with the fact that your last six answers are completely wrong sort of tipped me off that your mind is elsewhere. I mean since when did pi begin with a seven?'_

Shinji blinked and stared down at his screen, noticing instantly the childish errors he'd made, '_Oh_, nobody pays attention on Saturdays anyway,' he replied, glancing around the room at the other students, all of whom seemed to either be in a daze or in the process of sending instant messages to each other.

'_That's beside the point, Shinji, you still need to-_'

'-_Okay_...' interrupted Shinji with a mental sigh, relenting, 'I'll admit that I'm not concentrating; I've just got a lot on my mind right now.'

'_A pun?'_

Shinji let out a reluctant smile, 'Little bit, maybe. And don't worry; I was just thinking about the cross-synchronisation experiments later on today.'

'_Are you worried?'_

'Not _worried_ per se, more curious about the purpose. And on that note, is it even _possible_ for Rei to pilot Unit-01 any more with, you know: you here, not there?'

'_It certainly won't be as easy as it was; but my physical presence still remains in the EVA, and I can still sense it. It's kind of like a remote link. So I suppose it should still work, theoretically…_'

'Theoretically? _Mother_! Rei is going to be in that thing this afternoon!'

'_Relax. I swear I won't let anything happen to your little darling Rei. I know how much she means to you. Although, I must say that your choice of whom you fell for was a little...odd. But at least she_'s _a lot nicer than most of the girls out there, and at least she's proper. Though she could use to learn the definition of modesty.'_

'Pfft, _you_ try telling that to her. She'll only come back with the same retort each and every time.'

'_And that is?_'

Shinji rolled his eyes as he mentally spoke the words back with Rei's own voice, 'That "the sin is yours', not mine"'

'_How does she figure?_' enquired Yui in a baffled tone.

'Oh, she's got one for that too; "Shame is merely a perspective" and if she's not feeling it and I'm the one with the lusty thoughts; then the sin is mine. _E__ye of the beholder_ and all that I guess.'

'_A good argument, but I'm thinking she_'_s the one with some serious problems._'

'Well it's not like she's a total naturist or anything. She tries to cover up and everything now if I accidentally walk in on her, though it's really more for my sake than her own. Though I can't really blame Rei for her for being somewhat lacking in social skills. After all, it was _father_ who raised her, and father in an actual parenting role is like a blind man giving advanced piloting lessons to another blind man.'

Yui sighed, 'Y_eah, I certainly don't see him winning father of the year any time soon. Anyway, back to the point: Don't worry, Rei will be just fine. I'll make sure of it personally, I swear it._'

'Fine, I guess all I can do now is to just...forget about it,' And with that, Shinji went back to his work with still a heavy heart, his mother choosing to remain silent as she subtly attempt to pick away at his mind to find out what it was that was _really_ worrying him...

'_Although…'_ said Yui suddenly, a mischievous edge in her voice

'Don't…' said Shinji in a warning tone.

'_What?_' asked Yui in a poor attempt to sound innocent.

'I know what you want to say, I know what subject you want to discuss about Rei…_don't_.'

'_Of course, Shinji, of course…' _replied Yui.

Silence fell again for a moment, only for Yui to suddenly cut back in with a lightning-fast jibe of, '_At least she's attractive.'_

'And _there it is!'_

-Z-

"I _really_ don't like this..." muttered Maya to her associate once she was sure that Dr Akagi was out of audible range and had left the room.

"So you've said..." mumbled Gohan, not looking away from his screen as his hands worked away at what was for him a considerably forced slow speed.

Maya blinked as she turned to look at her companion. Her gaze then fell as she turned back to her console.

"What?" asked Gohan in that same tone, though there was a mild note of curiosity in there now.

"It's just, I thought…I thought that…"

"-You thought that _I_ would be first to speak out about this?" offered Gohan, turning to look at her with a slight smile.

Feeling somewhat guilty, Maya averted her eyes as she nodded her head slightly in acknowledgement.

Gohan smiled slightly as he observed his co-worker out of the corner of his eye. He could easily make out her features even in the darkness of the control booth overlooking the testing chambers, the only illumination being that which came from their screens "Who knows," said Gohan, "if the cross-synchronisation tests today don't go well, we might not even have to proceed with this."

"Hoping for a project to fail…" mused Maya sadly, "Just what does that make us?"

"Considering the moral implications of this project?" asked Gohan, "Human, I guess..."

He ignored the irony of him making that statement.

Maya mouth pulled into a small smile as she watched her co-worked for a moment, "You're so strange, Moriyama..." said Maya and Gohan didn't miss a single keystroke. He was getting used to being under pressure and suspicion, "You know, I've thought about it a lot, and it's almost as if...as if you don't _care_ about consequences at all."

"Sure I do..." replied Gohan, "I just have a nasty habit of putting my morals before my duty. Luckily we haven't gotten into too many situations where I've had to prove that though."

"I wish I could be like that..." said Maya quietly, her voice barely loud enough even for Gohan to hear.

"Sure you can," replied Gohan, "It's just with _me_, well..."

"Well what?" asked Maya, pausing in her work.

"It's more like…I just don't have that much to lose," and Gohan almost felt sad when he realised just how different the levels of pressure they were under actually were. Whereas Gohan might consider his position at NERV a disposable cover, to Maya her job was her whole life.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, stopping her work completely to give him her full attention.

Gohan's fingers paused above the keys, but he didn't take his eyes away from the lines of code, "To be honest, Maya, the pay and position of the job I could probably survive easily without, and it's not like NERV would really _miss_ me if I were gone, now would it? We both _know_ Ritsuko would love to be shot of me, it's not like Misato would be hindered much with my loss. After all, it's not like you were all failing horribly _before_ I materialised onto the scene."

"Don't...say that…" breathed Maya.

Gohan just chuckled softly, "I'm just _saying_, Maya: Either way, both NERV and I will be fine. So don't you worry about it," he said, returning back to his work.

There was silence between them for a moment, Gohan working, Maya just staring.

"That's...so selfish," she whispered.

Gohan blinked, turning from his work, "Maya?" finding his co-worker glaring at him.

"What?" she demanded, her voice holding far more steel than Gohan was used to with her, "Do you think that these past few months just never happened, like they were just some passing dream? Do you think you were just some damned _ghost_ who spent his time trying to be inconspicuous? Do you think that through all the times you've tried and worked so hard to help us save the world against the Angels, that with everything you've done, that not a single person would come to rely on you; even take a shine to you?" Maya had backed Gohan back against the chamber wall, stepping closer with each demand.

"Well what about them, huh?" she asked, scowling all the way, right inside his personal space as she backed him right back up against his chair now, "What about the ones who _will _notice? What about them? The ones who _will _notice that empty spot on the bridge?" Her voice then briefly rose up to a shout, "What about _me_?"

Silence fell.

Maya heaved for air for a moment, "And I just said that last part out loud, didn't I?"

"Very loud."

"_Oh_…"

"Maya..." breathed Gohan, his expression softening. He then stepped forward from his chair and took gentle hold of her shoulders as her face seemed to glow beet-red.

Gohan may have been a bit slow on the uptake in relation to matters involving the opposite sex, but he wasn't so dense as to catch signs when they're screamed right into his face.

He realised then that he'd hurt a friend, someone who had put up with a lot of the problems he'd caused with only a frown or a smile. He therefore did the only thing he could: He slid his arms further down her back and gripped her slightly closer, bordering almost on a hug, but not quite embracing her.

Maya let out a sharp gasp and her eyes shot up to find her junior looking down at her with those, warm, dark and mysterious eyes of his. His smile gave off both a strange air of amusement and reassurance. She felt herself relax unconsciously in those arms which seemed to briefly segregate her from the entirety of the world around them. Her mind fought for words to formulate, but that smile of his transmitted nothing amorous, it was just…friendly.

She suddenly had a deep yearning for him to close his arms, to complete the embrace and close off the world entirely so it was just the two of them. She wanted him to admit with that action that he felt something more than just friendship for her.

Gohan spoke for her, his voice low and so calming, "Maya, I may seem a little easy going at times, and it might look like I don't respect authority, but I promise you: when it comes to the work we do; to protecting this world, nobody is more serious than I am." He grinned and briefly brushed a thumb over her bright red cheek, "Trust me: I'm clever enough to keep my head above water and take notice of how important the work we do is. I do realise that I make a difference. I only wanted to reassure you that you'd get along fine if something did happen to me. I'm…sorry if I came across wrong."

Gohan's smile softened, "I'm sorry, Maya, but for now I'm not going anywhere. I'll still be here: saving the day and screwing things up as I go, but I expect I can trust you to keep me right."

By now Gohan was practically grinning when, to the female lieutenant's surprise, he suddenly pressed himself right up against her, his chest meeting hers, and he whispered softly in her ear, "And as for the Dummy Plug System, you just do your job Maya, and leave the rest to me. I swear: I'll make everything right..."

Gohan couldn't explain his plans as he peeled himself away from Maya, nodded, and sat down, but that was for her own safety. He'd almost finished coding his 'additions' to the system as it was. It had just been a simple matter of linking the output that diverts emotional instability away from the MAGI when it's controlling the Dummy System, and instead secretly routing it right back into the AI's architecture. That meant, hypothetically, the Dummy System _would_ still activate, and it would also work…for a few seconds at the very least, right up until the mental breakdown forces the MAGI to shut itself down and plunges NERV into a full-on blackout.

While Ritsuko hadn't heard any of the exchange between her two assistants, she had returned just in time to spy one of them rise up, embrace the other, and whisper softly in her ear.

She observed their reactions secretly with a smile that she simply couldn't deny herself. She then decided to give them a polite count to twenty to get back to work before she made her presence known. Even in NERV, realised Ritsuko, innocence could blossom.

And all the while Ritsuko thought this, Gohan _worked…_

The Saiyan may have lifted his co-worker's spirit and alleviated her demons, but he might have also just secured his own exposure for that simple reason.

And he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Now all Gohan had to do was think up the greatest lie of his life for when the commander orders 'Activate the Dummy System!' and all the lights go out...

-Z-

As the day drew to a close, a long figure sat atop the rooftop of Tokyo-3 Junior High.

"Darn it, where are you hiding?" murmured Yui irritably as her fingers flicked over the keyboard of Shinji's laptop. The sun was setting in the distance, casting long shadows over her cross-legged form as she regarded the screen with dark intrigue.

Shinji's opened his eyes, only to blink in surprise when he realised that he was actually back in his dreamscape. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Really? I close my eyes for five seconds and the backseat driver swipes the wheel…"

"Actually, you fell asleep in class," muttered Yui out loud as she continued to regard the Capsule Corp laptop screen.

'_A simple "wake up, Shinji or I'm stealing your body," would_'_ve sufficed,_' responded Shinji irritably, finding it ironic that their usual positions had been reversed, reducing him to the voice in the head.

"I gave up trying to keep you awake after the first twelve attempts…" commented Yui, "and then my curiosity got the better of me."

Shinji sighed, '_Well I'd be a hypocrite if I claimed that I was any different. But seriously; be careful with that machine. Vegeta's wife may have gotten around most of the MAGI's security protocols, but you still have to be cautious.'_

"Cautious about what?" asked Yui, "Not to make any _stupid_ mistakes?"

'_Well not "stupid", more like...blatantly obvious. Apparently, NERV can still monitor which files are being accessed even if they don't know who's doing it. Best not give them a reason to be suspicious.'_

"Don_'_t worry, Shinji. I may not have used a computer in quite some time, but I was _there_ and even assisted with the MAGI's creation. Ritsuko herself only barely knows the system better me. The only person who could truly outwit me at this is Naoko, and unless your father cloned her too then I don't see that being much of a problem."

Yui paused her reading to regard the computer in her lap, "Either way, I'm shocked at how easily this thing punches through the MAGI's firewalls and encryptions. As I recall, it was supposed to be impossible to access high level files without being at a terminal hardwired directly into the system. I have no concept of how it can keep pulling that off."

'_U__mm," _began Shinji in a tone that strongly suggested he was nervously twiddling his thumbs, _'technically it can't…'_

Yui's gaze flicked suspiciously off to one side, "Well?"

'_Our man on the inside made some...alterations that would let us connect wirelessly to the MAGI's higher systems without NERV noticing. Something about creating a vulnerability in a port or something. _

'_You see, the first time Vegeta accidentally hacked in, he tripped pretty much every single alarm in NERV headquarters. And because the generator the Saiyans use to breach a gap back to their reality creates a copy of the force caused when an EVA and Angel's A.T. fields clash, he also managed to trigger the Angel detection systems in the process.'_

"I see, but wouldn't these alterations also leave the MAGI open to attack by others?"

'_Not unless they're using advanced technology from another universe, no. Again, Gohan mentioned something technical to do with non-binary encryptions or…something.'_

"You really are working against NERV, aren't you…" mumbled Yui quietly as she brought up another screen, speed-reading through page after page of technical information.

'_I'm working against SEELE and the Instrumentality Project, mom. The people working at NERV aren't my enemies.'_

"You understand of course that SEELE were the ones who _built_ NERV and control it from the shadows. It is, in essence, an extension of them."

'_Tell that to father...'_

"Yes, I'd always bet that he would have his own agenda, at least...that's what I always prayed."

'_You honestly thought that father would be a flunky to anyone? I thought his ulterior motive would be obvious.'_

"Y-yeah," stammered Yui, "he told me, but that still doesn't excuse what he did to you."

'_Still…' _said Shinji as he sat up against the tree trunk, resting his hands behind his head to regard the calm waters around him, '_Willing to go to the ends of the earth and dare to manipulate the oldest and most powerful organisation in history just for the slightest chance of seeing you again? Come on, mom, surely you can't help but feel just a little flattered._'

Yui laughed softly at the sentiment, "You're right...I'm still going to hit him though."

It was Shinji's turn to laugh, _'Accepted. But for the sake of my fist, next time use a weapon or just kick him. The man must have a forehead like a lump of iron.'_

"He always was a bit thick headed, but…that's why I loved him." A smirk pulled at the edge of Yui's mouth, "Though I am glad he still has those chiselled good looks of his. Even if they are a bit more…_refined_ than when we last met."

'_Eww…'_

"Oh, that strong, hard jaw…"

'_Mom…'_

"Those dark, _piercing eyes_. Oh, a girl could just melt…"

'_One more word, just one, and I'll make you vomit for me.'_

"Now you know how I feel. I swear: It's nothing but Rei, Rei, Rei in your head. And when it's not her, you're mentally cheating on her with the Second Child."

'_Mom! We already agreed you're not allowed in that part of my brain!'_

Yui ignored him, "And your thoughts about that Katsuragi. Does age difference mean _nothing_ to you?"

'_I'm not being baited any further. I'm a teenager, teenagers think those thoughts.'_

"Of course, Shinji, of course. And I already apologized for the breaking the hand thing. But anyway, you're distracting me from my work."

Shinji just sighed again and shook his head, '_What are you up to anyways?'_

"Just finding out the reason behind these cross-synchronisation experiments that you were talking about, because between you and me, Shinji-kun, I've got a _disturbing_ suspicion that I know what they're intended use is."

_'Well if you wanted to know that, then why didn't you just ask?_'

Yui's fingers tensed, "_You_ knew that too? Well why didn't you say anything? I've been up here for hours freezing my backside off."

'_Firstly, it's my backside__, and secondly, you never asked! Plus, I...really didn't think you'd like the answer very much.'_

Yui went silent for just a few seconds longer than Shinji found comfortable, "I doubt I will. Tell me…"

Shinji exhaled slightly before speaking _'Alright, then do exactly as I say...'_

Yui blinked then steadied her fingers over the keyboard "Okay..."

'_Access father's personal database, it_'s_ hidden in Casper_'s_ file table register –rather cleverly I might add, I'm shocked he can even find it himself. Open the hexadecimal file table entry numbered 0606200130031977 Opening it will automatically grant you access to and then open a concealed directory. In there, in the third file down alphabetically…you will find your answer; the initial proposal, and the true reason behind these tests being run._' Shinji then closed his eyes, and he waited...

Several minutes past...

Yui's reaction, Shinji noted, was just as he anticipated, "Dummy...Plug...System?" breathed Yui, her eyes wide as she stared blankly at her screen. She was only dimly aware of the sounds of her knuckles cracking as her fists clenched to the point that it became painful.

The doctor's head shook slowly as she regarded the text, "Do...they have _any _idea what they're doing? _Tricking_ the EVA into believing it has a pilot and synchronising it with an _imprint_ of a personality and just _unleashing_ it on a target. It's little more than a berserker state, only there'll be no control from the EVA's consciousness either, not until…"

'_Until the target', _cut in Shinji, '_whatever it is, no longer exists. __I'm guessing father believes that it's all good just so long as the EVA moves and does what it does best. And the only reason he would install this in an active plug a pilot could also use would be if there was a risk that the pilot might refuse to attack, for whatever reason. And most likely, those would be moral reasons, such as if the attack may endanger civilians, or if the opponent were another human for some reason.'_

"_Gendo..._" whispered Yui harshly before slamming the laptop shut and sliding it back into Shinji's bag. She gripped the leather strap in her fist before pushing herself bolt upright, a familiar look of rage started to simmer.

Yui's temper may have taken over again, had the world not suddenly blurred into an indescribable distortion around her, inadvertently causing her host body to flop lifelessly onto its backside like a puppet with its strings cut.

-Z-

Yui staggered slightly before catching her balance. She looked ahead to come face to face with a rather sombre-looking Shinji Ikari (who, in order to be in front of Yui when she materialised, was standing knee-deep in the lake within the dreamscape)

Yui stared at her son and, after a moment, he spoke, "But that's not why you're angry though, is it?"

Yui averted her eyes away, a sad frown creasing her brow.

"It's not the mere danger that using such a system represents," said Shinji quietly, Yui said nothing, "You may be in me now, but part of you is still within Unit-01, therefore you still feel a connection, as do I, even if it is through you.

"The Dummy System isn't just twisted; it represents a violation of you; of the trust you placed in others, only for them to outright possess your form and strip you of what little free will you have in the EVA, and truly reduce you to nothing more than an object."

Yui laughed sadly, "But this is war, isn't it, so I must seem like a really petulant brat, don't I?"

Shinji smiled and shook his head gently, "No..._well._.. Not any more than I do anyway."

Yui allowed herself to laugh before putting an arm around Shinji, ruffling his hair. Her voice didn't sound all that cheery though, "God, I wish someone would tell me at what point I got so screwed up..."

Shinji's eyes widened slightly and he glanced up, noticing for the first time in his entire memory of both long distant past and recent times, his mother wearing a look of deep insecurity.

She had lost her body, got torn from her child, and then forced into his mind as a passenger. She was one of the most selfless people he'd ever known, but Shinji felt that her constant self-sacrifice may be threatening to break her. She may be the control system for a godlike beast, but she was still just one human woman at the core. And she had been alone for such a long time, just…_waiting _by herself in the darkness_._

Shinji found himself momentarily stung. "Mom..." he whispered, and he did the only thing he could think of: He softly rested his head against her chest and wrapped his arms around her.

Yui gasped in shock, and after a second, her face melted into a soft smile, "Thank you, Shinji-kun..." she whispered, "I suppose…I just forgot my own A.T. Field was still here. What with it being so close constantly now, I guess its presence just began to blur. I'm sorry…"

Shinji frowned, "_Your _A.T. Field?_" _he asked, looking up at her.

Yui chuckled as she softly ran her fingers through his hair, speaking gently, "_Yeah..._ You see, Shinji, the A.T. Field is far more than that which separates one person from another, or a barrier that can also be used as a defence when there's enough power shoved into it; most importantly, it's the light of your soul..."

Shinji frowned slightly, bafflement still apparent on his features "..._And?_"

Yui laughed again, feeling more and more like herself once more, "...Don't you see, Shinji? The light of my soul...of my existence..." she said, dropping to her knees and eye level with Shinji as her hands came to rest on his shoulders, "...Is you."

Silence fell for a few seconds before Shinji let out a slightly choked laugh before crumbling forwards into her arms, allowing himself, for just that instant, to be hers just one more time.

Yui sighed contentedly for a moment with her arms wrapped about her son. She then slid slowly back into a seated position, "Well either way, words and feelings aside, we still have to do something about this Dummy Plug System."

Shinji flopped onto his back with his hands behind his head, shrugging slightly, "I wouldn't worry. I suspect it's already been taken care of."

"What?" asked Yui, a note of incredulity in her voice as she wondered just how much of her own time she'd been wasting.

"I _said_ it's already been taken care of. Gohan should be handling it..hmm... Right about now come to think of it."

"Well why didn't you tell me this either?"

"I don't like to repeat myself; but you really never did ask."

Yui leaned over Shinji and regarded him in that critical way only a mother can, "You'll forgive the irony of the following statement, but we really need to work on our communication."

Shinji just smiled slightly, "Your move, mom. I think I'm gonna relax here for a while. Wake me up when you get to NERV HQ."

"How come I have to do all the leg work?"

"You're a mom. That's what moms are for. And fetch me a sandwich while you're out there."

Yui groaned and stood up to leave, "It's official: my baby is a teenager..." And Shinji would've retorted, but Yui was already gone...

Groaning in discomfort due to Shinji's body having collapsed somewhat painfully to the floor just moments prior, Yui yanked herself back up. She then swiped up Shinji's schoolbag and departed the roof to begin the annoyingly long journey to NERV Central...

-Z-

As promised, Rei's synchronisation with Unit-01 went off without a hitch. All the while, the Supreme Commander's eyes monitored the test with cold intensity...

"Report, Doctor?" he demanded, his eyes remaining affixed to the EVA's visage.

"As expected, sir, Rei's synchronisation level is reasonably comparative with that of Unit-00, although there is a certain imbalance in the emotive response circuits; there's a strong chance that we won't be able to monitor it in actual combat conditions."

"Irrelevant. As long as the EVA moves, it will be sufficient. Load the prepared neural data into Units 01 and 02"

Ritsuko opened her mouth to speak, but held her tongue when she realised the futility of trying to argue with the man. She closed it once more and glanced off to the side in order to hide the look of borderline disgust on her face, "Yes... _sir._"

It would be an understatement to say that, unlike Rei's test, Shinji's proved to be somewhat more eventful...

-Z-

As with Rei's test with Unit-01, both Commanders had deemed themselves to be present to observe the experiment, primarily due to recent circumstances involving the EVAs. Besides them, Rei, Major Katsuragi, Ritsuko Akagi and her two assistants were also in attendance.

The test began...

Shinji sat in the entry plug as the borderline acid trip that was synchronisation began. He could sense the familiar sensation of the EVA's own 'mind' playing at his, along with the familiar warmth that came with it.

But this was different. _Something_ about it was different: It was warmer, almost alluring; seductive…_d__emanding_.

Ritsuko's voice startled Shinji out of his contemplations, "Well, Shinji? How does it feel to be inside Unit-00 for the first time?"

Shinji's brow knitted into a frown, "It feels just the same, except..."

"Except what, Shinji?" asked Misato.

"Do you feel some kind of incompatibility?" prompted Ritsuko.

Shinji continued staring off in thought, "I don't know. I mean, it _feels_ the same. But it, I don't know, the only way I can describe it is that it...smells like Rei." he offered unsurely, not voicing his larger concern about Unit-00's synchronisation ratio, which almost seemed like it was demanding to be pushed higher, to the point that Shinji now felt a slight nausea in his gut, as if someone was spinning him round in his seat.

Shinji exhaled and focused, holding the EVA back and levelling off his synchronisation.

At least that's what he _hoped_ he was doing. And he mayhave succeeded, had a familiar and almost piercing voice not suddenly boomed over the comm system and tossed his concentration aside, "It smells like _what?_" said Asuka, scoffing, "Well I suppose you _would_ be an expert when it comes to that particular odour…pervert."

"Asuka!" snapped Misato, "Be quiet, that's an order!"

"Fine, fine…" sighed Asuka, "But, hey! How come you aren't running these cross synchronisation experiments on me? Is there something wrong with me?" She asked, the last part coming out a little more pitiful than she had intended.

Misato forced a laugh, "Come now, Asuka. We all know as well as you that you wouldn't pilot any EVA other than Unit-02, right?"

Asuka hummed in thought for a second, unconsciously drawing her legs up to her chest. She then closed her eyes, sighing contentedly as a warm smile graced her features, "Yeah, you're right. I wouldn't."

Asuka's eyes flicked open and she sat back up when the sound of Shinji letting out a gasp of pain came across the comm link. She turned to the image linked to Unit-00's entry plug, which currently showed the Third Child with his teeth bared in tension, one hand clasped over his eye, "What the hell's up with _him?_" murmured Asuka.

That split-second slip in Shinji's concentration was the precise moment Unit-00 had been waiting for. Its mental pressure relaxed briefly to mould itself around Shinji's defences and then, with an almost primal lusting to be joined as one, it thrust itself forwards into his mind. Shinji didn't even register the sound of the alarms as they sounded out in the control room as a cold spear of agony pierced through his cranium.

"Shinji, what's wrong!" shouted Misato, leaning forwards over the control panel.

Shinji opened a single eye, trying to focus on Misato's image, "S-something's t-trying to...gah, shit!" he cursed, grasping his head in pain.

"Shinji!" repeated Misato.

"We're detecting mental contamination starting to accumulate on the edge of his ego borderlines!" shouted Maya, "It's coming from the EVA!"

Ritsuko's eyes widened, "Oh god, not again..."

Shinji cried out in pain as he thrashed against the side of the entry plug, desperately trying to loosen the EVA's violent hold. In reaction, Unit-00 tensed, its arms trembling in their restraints before tearing effortlessly free a second later. Emulating its pilot, the mecha grasped its head and began bashing off the sides off the testing chamber.

Gohan had already pushed himself to his feet. He would stop Unit-00 himself if necessary, regardless of the unfortunate aftereffects that act would bring. As far as he was concerned, there was no such thing as an acceptable loss.

"Stay back!" snapped Ritsuko as everyone else sprang from their seats and back against the wall of the control room while the EVA continued to flail in its berserk state.

"Shinji..." whispered Rei from within the control room, an unfamiliar and unpleasant feeling in her stomach as she watched her EVA, "...is this my doing?"

"Gnnn! it..._hurts_!" groaned Shinji. He let out a defiant roar as he fought against the intruder.

Misato looked on in horror, her eyes flicking back and forth to the activation timer.

There was only one option. She turned to the still active communication linkups, "Asuka!"

Asuka blinked and quickly masked the concern on her features, "Y-yes?"

"Get ready. If it comes down to it, you may need to restrain Unit-00!"

Asuka's hands gripped hold of her controls, "Understood..." she responded, and felt her EVA's restraints come away.

She stepped clear and turned towards the partition wall that separated her from the testing chamber. Her eyes shifted to the image of the berserk prototype. A strong, genuine resolve flooded her, "You're no match for me…" Just one wall lay between her and her target.

Not nearly enough.

Misato glanced at the Unit-00 for a second then back to Asuka, "How much reserve power does Unit-00 have remaining?"

"Over thirty seconds!" shouted Maya in response.

"Far too long…" lamented Misato. She turned a questioning gaze toward the supreme commander, who was already looking at her. Reading her expression, he inclined his head, "Asuka…" said Misato, turning to look ahead once more, "…_Do it_."

Unit-00 screeched and hurled a fist directly at where Misato stood in the control booth.

An instant later, there was a blur of red accompanied by a deafening crash as Unit-02's hand punched clear through the wall and caught hold of Unit-00's wrist before it could connect with the blow.

Misato stood, staring wide-eyed at the massive fist that had been stopped mere inches away from her.

In its blind rage, Unit-00 raised its other arm to retaliate, only for Unit-02's remaining hand to tear through the wall and grab firmly onto it.

Unit-00 suddenly found itself yanked backwards by the other EVA, ripping completely through the wall and directly into Unit-02's waiting bear hug. As the prototype struggled, the production-type matched its blind rage with lighting fast intuitive counter movements, courtesy not only of Unit-02's slightly larger muscular capacity, but also the almost disturbingly fast reflexes of its pilot and her abnormally high synchronisation ratio.

Unit-00 slammed its head back into Unit-02's face. Asuka cried in pain and recoiled back just enough to allow Unit-00 to kick back at it, sending the red mecha crashing through another wall and into the slightly larger open space of the cage.

Unit-02 bounced off one hand mid-flight, flipped itself around and skidded into a readied crouch as Unit-00 lumbered zombie-like towards it in pursuit.

"You think you can take me?" asked Asuka, "Do you know who I am?" she shouted, and then launched herself at Unit-00. She landed with her knee embedded in the prototype's chest "I'm Asuka…Langley…_Sohryu!" _the two rolled over, grappling, and once Unit-00 was on top, Asuka slammed her foot upward and booted the EVA clear into the roof of the cage, "Accept no substitutes…"

"Asuka's synchroniation ratio is spiking!" shouted Maya.

"Asuka!" shouted Misato, "You're to restrain Unit-00, not engage it in combat!"

Unit-02 rolled over and Asuka brought it back up, "It's fine, Misato, "replied Asuka, "everything is…"she felt herself smile, "…_fine_." A warm surge swam about through Asuka's heart, everything about her seemed to glow, '_I actually do feel fine…'_

Unit-00 slammed back to the floor on all fours, but Asuka was ready, "COME _**ON!**_" she roared, swinging into a fighting stance.

The prototype roared and lunged forwards. It brought a fist back and dug one foot in, Asuka brought her hands up to block. There was a gleeful, feral smile on her face, an then…

Nothing.

Unit-00 froze mid-lunge, it's fist extended out like a statue. There was a distinct whine as the EVA powered down and fell slackly to the ground.

"Oh, come on…" moaned Asuka, throwing her hands up, "Misato, plug Unit-00 back in! We weren't finished yet!"

Misato let out a deflated breath, her shoulders sagging with relief, "I think that will be enough for one day, Asuka."

"Aww…"

"Good work, Second Child."

Asuka and pretty much everyone blinked, turning back just in time to see Commander Ikari turn and leave the lab.

Asuka looked blankly at the door the man had left through, "huh…didn't see that one coming."

Suddenly, Shinji's cry echoed out around the room, "Shinji!" cried Misato. She turned to Maya, "Why hasn't it shut down yet?"

Maya's fingers worked over the keyboard, "Unit-00 is offline but the synchronisation circuits are still active. We can't sever the connection! The EVA is still in a berserk state!"

"Still...hurts!" Came Shinji's cry, "Stop it..." he suddenly growled coarsely, "...T-telling you... I'm _telling you...s__top it_..." Shinji's voice picked up a note of urgent desperation, "_Stop it_! STOP IT!_**LET ME GO!**_" Suddenly, and without warning, the image of the entry plug erupted in an almost blindingly bright blaze of golden ethereal light.

Shinji's gasping sounded amplified, and each breath came in time with the pulsing waves of light within the plug. Unit-00 twitched on the ground while everyone else looked on in horrified awe as Shinji sat there, his body radiating completely gold. The light looked similar to what happened whenever he switched places with his mother, only now it looked like someone had forgotten to hit the off switch on the light show.

As sparks of the light continued to lick off him indiscriminately, Shinji's eyes opened and, like the rest of him, they glowed from within.

Asuka stared, gaping at the image on the monitor, "Mein... Gott..._Shinji_?"

The clearly enraged child heaved a few more breaths before arching his head upward, regarding something that couldn't be seen. And when he spoke, it was not the voice of Shinji Ikari that came out. The new voice seemed to emanate from the field of light around the pilot as opposed to his actual vocal chords.

It was the voice of Yui Ikari, and her decree was almost deafening in its intensity. "**Get…o**_**ut**_**!**"

Unit-00 suddenly shuddered where it lay, spasming a few times as it tried to move.

And then all was still. Shinji's eyes rolled back into his head and he flopped back into his seat, the light around him vanishing instantly.

Moments passed, and no one really knew quite what to say as they stared out at the devastated test area.

Finally, it was Gohan who spoke up as he read off his console, "Pilot life signs confirmed," he said, "...He's unconscious, but his brainwaves have now stabilized. No sign of residual mental contamination."

Misato whispered something that could've been interpreted as an acknowledgement. Fuyutski suddenly noticed Gendo Ikari back in the doorway, having obviously returned upon hearing the commotion, "I'll leave this in your hands for now, Fuyutski."

"Of course." He replied with a nod.

"Once this situation is cleaned up and the Third is recuperated, have a synchronisation test ran with Unit-01 as quickly as possible."

Fuyutski's reply was nothing more than a nod as the commander headed off, leaving him to pick up the pieces as usual.

Gendo felt that he had more pressing concerns.

Things had begun to spiral well and truly out of his control, and his problem was that he wasn't exactly sure if he _wanted_ things back as they were.

Strange, blurred rays of hope had begun to shine, and although the prophecies foretold in the Dead Sea Scrolls had been mostly accurate thus far in terms of predicting the approximate times and manifestations of the Angels, the additions to the scenario, as well as several other discrepancies, were proving a lot more tasking on his mind. In particular, he couldn't figure out in what _possible_ way the partial return of his wife could help in the bringing about of either his or SEELE's version of the Instrumentality Project. And No matter how hard Gendo tried, no matter how hard he tried to stretch his interpretations of the scrolls, the pieces just didn't _fit_ any more.

And although Gendo would still try his best to reinterpret the scrolls, deep down, in the back of his mind, he knew that the project was already doomed.

Gendo stopped to polish his glasses and massage his brow. The world around the commander seemed to blur into the background as everything began working away inside his head. He processed the new turns of events until he finally hit a realization:

Things were _not _going as he wished. Everything was supposed to have moved with some sort of noticeable pattern that could be interpreted in some way or another. But no more...

The additions to the equation had caused their imbalance.

The fragile mold had been shattered...

Because of _them..._

Gendo wished it would have been a simple matter of him being able to say, 'curses and drat, you've ruined everything. Now observe as I shake my fist in outrage!' , unfortunately however, Gendo realised that _ruined_ was not the correct term; They had _changed _everything. Gendo Ikari had never been a fan of chaos, however he realised that with that chaos, without that prophecy, there was now hope.

Gendo smirked.

Things could now run in almost any direction he saw fit. And as for SEELE, well, just so long as he moved things in a relatively general direction that the old fools could interpret as part of their schedule, then they would not intervene, and by the time they did realise what he was planning, it would be far, far too late.

If he chose to go ahead with instrumentality, then he could quite easily fool them right up until the last moment about the final critical details that differed with their version and all would go smoothly.

However, if he chose _not _to proceed with instrumentality at all; if he chose to _avoid_ final Impact completely, well, he would have to tread extremely lightly, lest the council discover his intentions months in advance. But what the council didn't know was the sort of contacts and influences that Gendo Ikari had been nurturing over the past fifteen years; with the _other _people in high places. All it would take, he realised, was to sew the right seeds of betrayal in the right places, and the thirteen creepers would slowly begin to encircle and then choke their targets before they even realised what was happening.

And it was all because of _them..._

"Saiyans..." he breathed, and felt his smirk pull into a slight grin. To think that the formerly troublesome aliens had actually ended up securing him a no-lose scenario…

All shackles of prophecy were gone, and now Gendo was free. It would take some planning and reassessing of the situation certainly, but if the commander could steer the situation between his son and wife in just the right direction, then he realised he could, at last, make all right with the world.

His world had been cast into uncertainty and all his carefully laid plans were now in turmoil. But_ still, _the commander realised…you've got to laugh, haven't you?

-Z-

The last thing Shinji Ikari managed to process through the searing agony in his skull was his vision being blurred out by a brilliant golden glow that seemed to be coming from all around him. Then there was a voice, a voice from deep within him calling out; a voice to make the pain go away.

The next thing Shinji knew was that he was falling backwards, only to be caught in the waiting arms of his mother.

"W-what?" he gasped as he felt himself be lowered safely to the ground. Yui's arms were holding him safely from behind as she settled down atop the hillside. Shinji looked around at the new landscape, only just realising that everything had changed from the norm.

They were sat on a hillside overlooking Tokyo-3, the silent wind gently rustling the uncut grass around them. A viola case lay open and empty nearby. Yui released him and shuffled over to sit by his side once she was sure everything was stable.

Shinji knew he should've jumped straight to more important topics, but in the dream world the detachment seemed to blur priorities to the point that he spoke whatever came to mind first, "Well...this is new."

Yui shrugged as she looked around, "Well, because of that little incident back there I figured it would be healthier for you, emotionally speaking, to use place more predominant and recent in your memory to help you recover; Somewhere…happy."

Shinji blinked as he felt the hand lingering on his arm tighten. His mother's voice came quietly, "I was..._scared…_for a moment. I thought you were slipping from me…I felt you starting to leave..." The hand gripped tighter.

Shinji didn't need to turn around. He merely rested his hand atop hers and it relaxed instantly. He smiled softly, "You saved me, didn't you?"

Yui's smile finally returned, "It would be more accurate to say that I just did a bit of damage control."

"You see, Shinji, because you've effectively gained the ability to perform a deep synchronisation and harmonise with an Evangelion, the resident soul of Unit-00, having being deprived of such a connection, shall we say…_jumped_ at the opportunity. I get the feeling that Rei already knew about this and has probably been holding herself back whenever she synchronised. This may have caused the EVA to be in a slightly heightened state of instability when you activated it. Combine that with a new pilot capable of an even higher synch ratio and you've got a recipe for disaster."

Shinji just nodded in understanding, though truthfully he only grasped about half of what his mother was saying.

Shinji's brow furrowed suddenly, "But…when I was in Unit-00, the presence...that _imprint_, it almost felt like-"

"-It wasn't her," interjected Yui gently, "Unit-00, being the prototype, holds an imprint of it's somewhat 'special' pilot in order for it to activate. It's like a symbiotic relationship, or bond, but the presence inside...that was someone else."

Shinji fell silent for a moment, "Who?"

"It's...not important…" breathed Yui, her voice holding a subtle note of sadness. She had felt the presence within the prototype EVA, and while it was true that it had originally gone berserk due to Shinji being the pilot and that his constant fighting back had made the berserker fit worse, it was when the EVA had sensed the presence of the second mind within the pilot that it had really went mad, like an animal sensing its prey.

Unit-00 had _sensed_ her within Shinji and, for some reason, wanted nothing more than to rip her to pieces and devour her son on top of it out of nothing more than spite. It had taken Yui's direct intervention to force the soul of Unit-00 out of her son and prevent any permanent contamination.

Such hate; such pure, unadulterated _lust_ to destroy…and all of it was aimed at her.

Yui was startled to realise just how much this hurt her. Although she'd had her suspicions in the past, Yui had always thought them just in her head. But to think that woman _actually_ held such strong feelings of hatred and jealousy towards her behind her back...

Yui just shook her head sadly before whispering to herself, "And you think you know someone…"

"Are you alright?" asked Shinji, quirking his head around to look up at her.

Yui smiled, "I'm fine, just…reminiscing..." she said, before swiftly changing the subject, "So then...this is where you went on your date, is it?" she asked, glancing around at the grassy slopes.

Shinji felt an oncoming blush, and he was about to stammer something out in embarrassment, but suddenly he felt a wave of solemnness emerge from within his heart, "_Yeah..._" he breathed quietly, "Come to think about it, this was the last place we actually got to spend any time together in. Just the two of us…" he felt his hand come to rest on the open case, his fingertips tracing the imaginary contours of the leather, "You should hear Rei play, mom. She's an incredible violist... absolutely magnificent." He then fell into silent contemplation, seemingly unaware of the ghostly image his thoughts had summoned into existence by them.

Yui cocked her head to regard the transparent image of the blue haired girl as she played her instrument, a look of contentment on her pale features as the ghost-image of the other Shinji lay happily with his head in her lap. The doctor's expression softened and her next question caught Shinji very off-guard, "Are you in love with her?"

Shinji's eyes flicked open and the image vanished as he looked at her, clearly startled. He then fell silent for nearly fifteen seconds as if deciding both how and if he should respond with all honesty, "I would've thought these things would go without saying…" he murmured, shifting where he sat.

Yui chuckled softly into her hand, "Oh my, Shinji. As much as you know about EVA piloting and saving the world, you still have a lot to learn about women. You're right that we might like men to try their best to assume our feelings, and also transmit and receive most things on a simple emotive, non-vocal level, but what youjust mentioned it the one _big _exception; the big three: The old I.L.Y is the one thing we need to hear, and also the one that you should only, and I mean _only,_ ever use when you're sure of your feelings, because women can tell these things. Even if Rei isn't your average girl, certain things still hold firm on a purely instinctive level. If you feel that way towards her, then you have to say it, but you'd best be sure you're genuine, because there's only ever one first time you can use those words with a girl."

"Mom, I'm only fourteen, and you're making three words sound like a marriage proposal signed, sealed and in triplicate."

""Hey, I'm a woman. We have a thing about commitment," she cocked her head curiously at him, "But would that really be such a bad thing?"

Shinji fell quiet, contemplating the image of spending the rest of his life with Rei: of an actual marriage day, of it being just the two of them, day in and day out, living in peace for the rest of their days; no EVAs, no Angels, no SEELE...

Just the two of them…

Shinji had never had much thought for the future before, the concept of fighting for a happy ending had never once occurred to him.

But what about now?

Feeling the pressure building, and not really up to facing such life affirming questions at that moment, Shinji just groaned in response, "I think I'd like to wake up now..."

"Are you sure? If you wake right now then I assure you, you're going to have to endure one _epic_ headache."

"I'll survive..." he mumbled, standing back up and vanishing into the ether.

-Z-

An instant later, Shinji was _really_ wishing he'd listened to his mother's advice.

The pilot groaned in pain followed by dismay when he realised he was back in the NERV hospital wing. He dragged himself out of bed and then retreated to the adjoining shower to cleanse himself of the lingering LCL before finally changing back into his regular clothes.

Shinji considered signalling for a nurse to grant him the gift of some painkillers, but he really wanted to be out of there before he got swamped by tests and doctors who wanted to keep him overnight for 'observation'. He looked at the chart at the base of his bed and realised from the date that he must've been in for at least twenty four hours so far.

"This place has had enough of my life as it is," muttered the child irritably before swiping up the bag which had obviously been moved from the locker room and then heading out.

-Z-

As he sipped his coffee and flicked through the open cookbook, Shinji heard the door to the apartment open. He knew who it would be.

"Good evening, Misato..." he said without looking up as he went immediately back to chopping vegetables.

Misato froze mid-step in the doorway as Shinji scooped up some stock simmering in the pot and tasted it experimentally, "Shinji..." she breathed, her brow clenching into a scowl "Shinji, what do you think you're _doing_?"

Shinji blinked in confusion as he looked around himself, "Making…dinner? It's...Thursday. It's my turn."

Misato shook her head incredulously, "What are you talking about? You can't just up and leave a secure NERV hospital without telling anyone! You were supposed to still be in for observation. For gods' sake Ritsuko was _furious._"

"Forgive me if I don't burst into tears..." muttered Shinji with a dismissive tilt of his head, "But yes, I checked myself out and chose to save myself the pain of telling the staff. It's done, deal with it."

"Shinji…"

"-Misato..." interrupted Shinji interrupted with a sigh, "You know I _hate_ hospitals; I feel and _am_ fine."

Misato scowled, "That was hardly your call to make..."

"Last I checked it was still my body...well…for the most part. Besides, Mom checked me over and she said I was good to go, and I'd trust her medical knowledge a thousand times more and any of NERV's drones."

Misato exhaled and rubbed her brow, "Procedures still have to be followed, Shinji..."

He rolled his eyes and groaned, "God, since when did you become such a bureaucrat?"

Misato blinked. Shinji had just hit a vulnerable spot, but she swiftly recovered and got back on track, "It's my _job_ Shinji, and this _attitude_ of yours isn't helping much."

Shinji put his knife down and hung his head slightly, "Sorry, I just...I needed to get out of NERV for a while."

Misato sighed, "Well I guess I can see how you might feel that way. NERV hasn't exactly been very kind to you in the past, and I _suppose_ you can take a few days off from school since-"

"-_No,_" interjected Shinji suddenly but quietly.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, but it's just as if, I don't _know_, that school is one of the only _normal_ things left in my life. I know even thinking any part of my life is even remotely normal is a delusion, but-"

The major smiled softly and shook her head, to cut him off "…it's alright. Although: a teenager actually _wanting_ to go to school? Now you're _officially_ weird, Shinji." And with that Misato turned and departed for her room.

-Z-

Once Shinji was sure that Misato had gone to bed, and that she wouldn't end up walking in on him to kiss him goodnight or the likes (she'd far done worse and in under far less levels of inebriation in the past) he then paused to ensure only silence came from Asuka's room. With the coast effectively clear, Shinji decided it was about time for him to get the latest low-down on NERV's inner workings.

It was an arduous task considering how much unimportant junk he had to sift through before he got to anything remotely important. Frankly, Shinji was surprised that his father had time to plot anything at all considering all of the paperwork that came his way. He was also stunned as to just how much of a paper trail plotting Armageddon can leave (the answer seemingly being 'enough to bury anyone who tries to follow it'). However, as usual, there was the occasional gem of relevant information buried in the mountains of red tape. And this one, Shinji realised, was extremely relevant.

'A memo from the Marduke institute...' mused Shinji silently, 'Its amazing that he even _uses_ that cover in his own personal files.' His eyes widened a tad as he read the subject header:

**rg012865Re: Fourth Children recruitment**

"He's calling up the Fourth?" whispered Shinji as his eyes moved down the page. His expression turned to nothing short of abject shock as he read the reasons behind the candidate's selection or, more importantly, just what they had to use as leverage to _make him_ pilot. That second of shock passed, and then shock turned to worry. Worry was then quickly replaced by _fury_.

After a moment, Shinji's hand shifted and he returned the laptop to its capsule. Darkness now concealed the rage that glittered in his dark blue eyes. His whisper cut through the darkness like a dagger, "Oh, this won't do..."

-Z-

Shinji was sat atop the hillside in his dream world while he let his mother deal with the matter of getting his body to school. Shinji had matters to dwell on. His mother hadn't questioned him, in fact she seemed to leap at any opportunity just to be _out. _This didn't surprise him much considering what she'd had to endure for the past decade and a half.

He only wished she'd stop _singing_ so cheerily when walking around in his body. People were starting to ask questions.

"I need leverage..." murmured Shinji to himself, his fingers drumming a beat on his knees, "I really didn't count on NERV using _her_ as a bargaining chip. I need to _nullify_ that advantage somehow. Come on…_think, _genius!"

Yui had decided to leave her son to his contemplations, choosing instead to enjoy the morning walk to school. And Shinji wasn't wrong either, she really hadn't enjoyed something so simple yet enriching in quite as long as she could remember.

She really had missed the feeling of the sun on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" enquired Asuka with her usual edge. She'd been observing Shinji's mother for most of the journey from the corner of her eye, "I swear, if you start skipping again I'm leaving you right here."

Yui smiled apologetically, "Sorry if it bothers you, Asuka-chan. I just prefer to enjoy myself whenever possible rather than brood on things. It really is a nice morning, wouldn't you say?"

Asuka looked at Yui with a very bewildered stare, then glanced around, "Yeah, I…suppose it is. Are you saying _that_ is all it takes to make you smile?"

Yui cocked her head inquisitively, "What more do you need?" she asked, "Is it really so strange? Do you _really_ find it so hard to just be happy?"

Asuka averted her eyes, flushing slightly.

"Look around you, Asuka. The world is beautiful and blue and you are _alive_. Never be ungrateful for that."

That forced Asuka into silence for the remainder of the journey. She was loathed to admit that bubbly optimism was enough to make her think.

It was as they turned the final corner leading up to the school that Asuka chose to halt and break her silence, "I'm... Ah, I'm gonna go take the other way round into school I think…"

Yui blinked in confusion as Asuka ran off in the other direction, "Was it something I said?" she called after her, "I promise I'll try to be gloomier next time!" But it was when she turned to look ahead once more that she saw the reason behind Asuka's hasty departure.

Rei Ayanami stood waiting, regarding the doctor in utter silence. The calm of the summer day was briefly cut into by a cold, almost icy wind. And even as her bangs were cast across her eyes, Rei stood still, looking on impassively and expectantly at the other pilot.

Yui squared her shoulders and breathed a long sigh, 'Oh well, here comes the bit I've _not_ been looking forward to. Face to face with Gendo's...mini…me.'

While it may have taken Asuka a moment to suspect that Shinji might not be quite himself, Rei Ayanami needed nothing more than a passing glance to realise and confirm that the one standing before her was not her boyfriend. And while she had not allowed a reaction to show on her face (primarily due to her not being entirely sure what expression was supposed to match which emotion), she was in truth greatly disconcerted.

Instinctively, Rei knew who it was standing a few feet away. She didn't know _how_ she knew, but somehow Rei just _knew_ those eyes.

Red and green eyes stayed locked in silent standoff. Surprisingly, it was Rei who chose to speak first.

"Doctor Yui Ikari..."

Rei's words almost sounded cordial…almost.

Yui's expression was impassive. After a moment, she mutely inclined her head in confirmation and began circling, drifting around Rei as she surveyed her up and down, "Yes, and you…are Rei Ayanami," said the doctor almost offhandedly, "Now, let's see…" she murmured, stopping behind the First Child and tapping a finger thoughtfully off her jaw like one may when contemplating an abstract painting.

Rei glanced over her shoulder as Yui stepped suddenly forwards into her personal space. Rei looked at the doctor in silence as she continued to look her up and down. Though normally stoic, Rei let out a startled, throaty squeak when Yui suddenly reached around and squeezed her chest experimentally, frowning in thought all the while, "W-what?" stammered Rei, gasping slightly.

Yui folded her arms, cocking an eyebrow in thought as if puzzled, "Well…_those_ should be bigger for a start. Let's just…" she trailed off and then wordlessly gripped hold of Rei's right arm and began squeezing her biceps before stretching the limb out, almost as if she were measuring it. Yui then dropped down and began experimentally padding Rei's leg from calf to thigh, muttering to herself all the way.

Again, Yui hummed in thought, as if dwelling on a complex equation, "_Almost_ identical. Bit bony though." She finally turned her eyes to a now slightly flustered Rei, "You need more protein in your diet. You're not eating enough calories either. You'll never fill out your figure at this rate. I've never recommended eating red meat to anyone before, but you could sure use it."

Rei's brow furrowed with irritation, "I dislike eating meat."

Yui cocked her head, "A vegetarian clone. Wonderful. You're not perfectly exact, but you know what they say: imitation is the highest form of flattery."

Rei kept her expression blank as she spoke, "Is Shinji-kun aware of what is happening right now?"

"No, he's busy with something else. He can't see, hear or feel anything just now."

"Understood." Said Rei, and without another word, she brought her arm about and struck Yui clear across the cheek. The blow was like a thunderclap, causing birds in the nearby trees to scatter in fright.

Yui stood still, completely shell-shocked as Rei looked at her with a visible scowl, "I am not an imitation." Said Rei, her tone low and sounding genuinely offended, "I am _Rei Ayanami._"

Yui closed her mouth, a hand going to cradle her stinging cheek. The blow wouldn't leave a mark and the pain would most likely be gone by the time Shinji emerged, and she guessed Rei knew that. For some reason, Yui felt her mouth pull into a smile, "Well said…" she said, her tone laced with such amusement that she surprised herself, while also trying not to let on just how much that hurt like hell.

Yui recomposed herself to look at Rei head on, the First Child seeming more than a little confused by the reaction, "Yes, I am Doctor Yui Ikari, Shinji's mother. And you _are_ Rei Ayanami, not me. Those are words of comfort, and had you reacted _any_ differently than you had just now, they would've been words of warning. Well done, you have my approval."

Rei inclined her head, "Commander Ikari did not inform me of this development."

"Oh? Well, perhaps Gendo was a little more stunned than he let on and just plain forgot to tell you. Or, most likely, he simply deemed that you did not need to know, or he didn't _want_ you to. I wouldn't take it personally."

"I won't," replied Rei in her usual tone.

"Well, I must say-" began Yui.

"-Where is Shinji?" interrupted Rei. And while her tone may have been as mono as ever, for those who knew Rei well enough, a note of urgency could also be heard in there.

Yui blinked in mild surprise, and even as she smiled, there was a slightly icy look in her eyes as she posed a question in response, "What are your intentions towards my child?"

Rei went silent, clearly dwelling on the question. She almost looked troubled, "I am...unsure about my feelings. I have never been in such a situation or relationship before. All I know is that I would like Shinji to be happy above all else. When I think of what his emotional state used to be, it...disturbs me. Shinji was not happy, and I would like to be the one to make him so."

Yui smiled slightly, "I see. And does being with him make you happy?"

Rei paused as she felt her cheeks warm slightly. Her response was barely above a whisper with the tiniest of nods, "...yes."

Rei's reaction caused Yui to giggle slightly, "Oh, you are just too adorable. I think I can see now why Shinji fell for you so hard," and Yui couldn't help but laugh louder as Rei gasped at the statement, her pale cheeks flushing slightly redder, "Oh well, I suppose I've had my fun. I'll give you two some privacy."

'_Mom…'_

Yui blinked, hesitating before changing, 'What is it?'

'_Three things…Firstly: do not ever grope my girlfriend again; secondly, please don't let people slap my face just to test them; finally: do not __**ever**__ grope my girlfriend again.'_

'That was…two things...'

'_And it needed saying twice. Now budge over…'_

By this point their switching had become so fluidic that there wasn't even a shimmering of light any more. It now merely looked as though colour bled into their irises and hair when they changed places.

Shinji's eyes softened the instant they met his girlfriend's unsure crimson ones. He then slowly and tentatively approached the tense First Child and stopped a few feet in front of her.

"Shinji..." she said, taking a half-step towards him, her hand raised hesitantly.

Shinji smiled and cocked his head in acknowledgement "It's been a while…"

While Shinji normally found himself being the one to make the first move in such situations, he couldn't have possibly imagined Rei to whisper the following words to him, her hand finally extending to tentatively touch his cheek.

"My Shinji...?"

Shinji's eyes widened, briefly startled, "Rei..." he breathed, "I umph!-" but he found himself unable to continue as Rei drew him suddenly forward into her arms and pressed her lips with a yearning hunger to his.

_'Oh, and there is just one more thing I'd like to…__Oh…oh my…_' Shinji's brow clenched angrily at the sudden intrusion in his head, _'Sorry, I'll…come back later…_'

Shinji would have rolled his eyes had they not fluttered reflexively closed when Rei's soft lips ushered his mouth open to deepen the kiss to a level she hungered for. Her arms tightened around his back.

Rei pinned him back against the wall and they continued for a moment before Shinji broke their act with gentle and extreme reluctance. He left his arms draped loosely about her shoulders, his breath short, "Okay, _th__at_... I have missed."

Rei blushed slightly, leaning forward with her forehead against his, her breath hot on his lips as she smiled, "...As have I."

"I could tell…"

Shinji slid his arms back and dropped them back at his side. But as his fingertips brushed accidentally against Rei's, he felt their fingers intertwine almost reflexively about one another, "I suppose we should go then…" he said, and she contentedly fell into step at his side, her hand locked with his, as they carried on towards Tokyo-3 junior high.

After a moment of silence, Rei spoke again, "it felt almost miraculous..."

Shinji blinked, "What did?"

"My heart felt so heavily burdened the entire time we were parted, since the attack of the 12th.

"I thought I had lost you…but as soon as I saw your eyes, felt your touch…I felt myself heal, all was right again. You made me whole once more…" Rei smiled slightly, "...as I said, it felt miraculous."

Shinji flushed, chuckling as he leaned up against her as they walked, Rei's head coming to nestle on his shoulder, "Sounds like I'm a Senzu bean for the heart. You'll give me an ego at this rate. But either way, I'm glad…you…" and Rei pulled back when Shinji halted, his voice suddenly trailing off.

"What?" asked Rei as Shinji stared dead ahead, his mouth still open.

The side of Shinji's mouth suddenly pulled into a smile, "That's it…" he whispered, his smile widening, "_Yes…_that's the leverage. That's _it_!"

"What?" repeated Rei.

Shinji didn't respond. Instead, he grabbed Rei firmly by the shoulders and drew her into a sudden long, deeply enthusiastic kiss. Rei felt the gasp she'd been about to exhale dissolve into a moan as she savoured a brief taste of heaven before Shinji suddenly pulled back again, "Rei, you're a genius!" He said, backing away.

"Where are you going?"

"I've got to go and take care of something really important..." replied Shinji almost frantically, "If anyone asks, just make something up. I swear, I'll be back in about half an hour! I swear, you are _brilliant, _Rei, absolutely brilliant!"

"…I am?"

Shinji just grinned almost eccentrically and then bolted off in the opposite direction, leaving a very stumped Rei in his wake.

"Well at least he is happy…" She finally said to herself, before turning towards the school and heading in.

"Ah, you're a little late today, Miss Ayanami," said the teacher as Rei entered, sliding the door closed behind her.

"My apologies."

"Is Shinji not with you? Ms Sohryu says he was accompanying you."

Rei went silent for an uncomfortably long moment, "Pilot Ikari is…" she began, only she found her mind drawing a blank from there.

Rei didn't know how to _lie_. Heck, she didn't know what people even _did _when not at school or NERV.

"…it is classified." She finally said.

"I see… Well, I'll just mark him as absent for now. Go and take your seat."

Rei nodded, and then headed for her seat, storing that little mistruth away for possible future use.

-Z-

Shinji meanwhile was attempting to simultaneously run and hop on one foot as he tried to dig the Senzu bean Goku had given him in case of extreme emergencies out of his left sock.

'_Would you __care to tell me what you're so excited about?_' came Yui's weary voice, '_Katsuragi offers to give you the day off, only for you to skip school instead. What do you call this? Passive-aggressive teen rebellion?'_

"Can't talk; being brilliant," replied Shinji as he hopped once more, secured the bean in his fist and then breaking out into a full sprint.

'_What are you doing?'_

Shinji smirked, "Pocketing NERV's bargaining chip…"

-Z-

Asuka's eye twitched in annoyance as the doorbell sounded through their apartment. She swallowed her toast only half-chewed and stomped toward the door, "Damn stooges are early today," she grumbled, "Couldn't those pervs at least _wait_ for me to get clear of this place before coming to indulge themselves on our drunken 'guardian'."

"Huh, wha?" slurred Misato sleepily, "You say somethin'?" she called, crushing the can in her hand and tossing it over one shoulder into the recycling bag.

Asuka smacked the door open button angrily, "_Hey_! Can't you stooges just for once-" Asuka's tirade became a shocked scream as she found herself engulfed in a sudden bear hug.

"Oh, Shinji!" Toji cried happily, lifting Asuka clear off the floor and swinging her around, "Dude, you're not gonna believe it! It's my sister, she…" Toji trailed off however as his young teenage mind processed something amiss. Or more to the point, it registered the two soft something's pressing against his face that really shouldn't be there.

And Shinji didn't have those, at least not last he checked…

Toji opened his eyes to find himself looking up at a beet-red Asuka.

Despite having the stooge's chin buried in her cleavage and still being suspended in the air, a strange sort of calm seemed to wash over Asuka, "Stooge…" she said quietly, "Since whatever this is about has something to do with your sister, I'm going to momentarily forgo your ripping your balls off for this . You may set me down. You may then explain calmly to the idiot whatever it is you have to say. You may then get a thirty second head start before I come to exact my revenge."

Toji chuckled nervously and set Asuka timidly down, pausing to brush down her dress and even adjust her bow. He then circled carefully about her like one may an angry rattlesnake, "Y-yes, ma'am, thank you, ma'am."

"Toji, what's up?" asked Shinji from further down the corridor. He'd walked in just in time to see Toji embrace Asuka. His heart had nearly leaped into his throat and he felt like a parent who'd just watched their child fall into the lion cage at the zoo.

"It's my sister!" exclaimed Toji.

Shinji flicked the dishcloth in his hand back into the kitchen and turned back to Toji, "What happened? Did it work? Is Sakura going to be okay?"

"She's... fine" said Toji his shoulders seeming to deflate, "she's…_all _right!" he then proceeded to crack up into a fit of incredulous laughter and, completely forgetting himself, proceeded to hug Asuka once more out of sheer unbridled glee.

Asuka, for just that instant, let him be, "You're sister, she's…she's healed?"

"H-he gave me some bean thing and it totally healed her up! Totally! The scar across her face that the doctors weren't sure would heal; the deep trauma to her head... Gone!" He turned and grasped Shinji's hands, "God, I'm so happy I'd even kiss the _demon_ here if we hadn't agreed she had the power to suck out men's souls."

"Oy, right here…" mumbled Asuka, who turned to Shinji, "You gave him one of those Saiyan bean things?" she asked, to which Shinji merely nodded.

The Second Child regarded the elated Suzuhara as he bounced up and down with Shinji's hands grasped in his. She sighed and turned her back on him, "Good for you, Stooge, good for you."

Toji blinked and turned to look at the girl, but she was already vanishing out the door with her schoolbag in hand.

After a second, Toji turned back to the slightly bemused Third Child, "Shinji... What do I owe you? Just tell me what I owe to make this even?"

Shinji's smile faltered slightly, "Truthfully, what I did, I did almost completely just for her, but...there is just one thing I need you to do for me, Toji."

"Name it," he responded, his tone uncharacteristically level and serious.

The makings of a smirk encroached upon the corners of Shinji's mouth, "Very well…" he finally said, "Here's what I want you to do…"

And so Shinji began laying the groundwork for the next step in his scenario.

Yes, he realised, things were coming along just nicely…

-Z-

Toji blinked as he heard the announcement over the school intercom system.

"Toji Suzuhara. Would Toji Suzuhara please report to the principal's office immediately."

Toji stood fluidly to his feet and sucked in a steadying breath. He caught Shinji glance at him out the corner of his eye. Toji narrowed his gaze and nodded firmly. Shinji just inclined his head in the slightest of responses.

This was it. Shinji was right, he realised. They _were _going to approach him, and now it was all in his hands. He had a debt to repay, and a Suzuhara always pays their dues. Shinji Ikari had saved his sister's life in the battle with the Third Angel effectively, and now he'd given her back her future. As far as Toji was concerned, he owed Shinji Ikari nothing short of a life debt, but if this was all he wanted in return, then he was damned if he was going to let him down.

"_Now _what have you done?" asked Hikari in her usual disapproving tone.

"Who knows, class rep..." he murmured distantly and walked clear by her and out the door, sparing nobody else a second glance.

-Z-

"Hello, Toji..." said Ritsuko, smiling politely from her seat in the principal's office as the youth entered, "My name is Doctor Ritsuko Akagi." She extended a polite hand to the seat opposite her.

She watched as he closed the door carefully behind him and then was still for the briefest of moments.

He then turned about and walked clear up to the window, ignoring the chair opposite the Doctor and stopping with his back to the scientist.

Ritsuko caught only the most fleeting of glimpses as he passed, and the boy had flicked his gaze to her for only a split second. There had been nothing but ice in that normally innocent stare.

"Yeah," he said, still looking out over the world outside, "we've met a couple of times..."

There was silence for a moment, Toji still didn't turn around, "Something I can do for you?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Ritsuko set her glasses down, "Mister Suzuhara…is there something I've done to offend you?"

"Not that I know of," he responded, and then glanced at her over his shoulder, "Why, is there something I should be offended by?"

She looked at her clipboard and did her best to smile, only to realise he'd gone back to looking outside again. This wasn't going how it should be going, "Please," she said, "won't you take a seat?"

Toji's gaze in the window reflection flicked to her and Ritsuko quickly averted her eyes to look down at her clipboard again. There was a guilty woman if ever he'd saw one, thought the jock.

"No need." He replied, "I've got things to do. Whatever it is, make it quick."

Ritsuko bristled slightly, "W-well I think you might want to sit down for this. I assure you that there really won't be anything more important for you to hear today than this. In fact, this may be the most important conversation you'll ever have."

"I doubt it." He responded flatly, "The most important conversation I've had today is when a friend of mine told me that a woman from NERV might turn up and start hanging my injured sister over my head to try and get me to pilot the EVA they're gettin' FedExed over by the yanks after their last one blew itself to hell; an EVA your boss thinks has a good chance of goin' nuts on its first outing…but I'm guessing he didn't tell you that bit."

The colour drained itself from Ritsuko's face, "What…" she breathed, pausing to swallow, "What did you just say?"

Toji turned around and crossed his arms, smiling a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "No, I'm sorry, ma'am, I've been jumping the gun. Go on, tell me what you were about to say."

Ritsuko said nothing.

"_Sorry_," said Toji, reading the unspoken question on her lips, "but the man in charge got to me first."

"What man in charge?"

"You call him Ikari."

Ritsuko stared wide-eyed at him, "B-but why would the commander-"

"-Not _that _Ikari." Cut in Toji, his tone sharper than a blade, "I'm talkin' about the one that's _really_ in charge of what's goin' on round here, and it ain't the old man under the ground."

The doctor could only look at Toji in utter disbelief as he stared down at her, silhouetted against the light outside, "Don't ever try and mess with my family…"

Ritsuko swallowed and desperately tried to hold onto her composure, "R-regardless, we can still offer your sister the best-"

Toji stomped his foot loudly, cutting her off, "-Your intel's out of date, Doc! My sister don't need no NERV spooks digging at her, she's going to be just fine now thanks to a little help from on high. You should check your facts before you go round makin' job offers." He then walked past the doctor and stopped in the doorway, "Excuse me, ma'am, I've got homework to hand in…"

And with that he departed, leaving an utterly shell-shocked Ritsuko in his wake.

Toji hadn't asked how Shinji knew all the things he did, nor why he'd asked him to let Ritsuko know that he was the one who'd revealed all that stuff.

But that didn't matter.

If Shinji was right, then he'd just saved him from putting his own head willingly on the block, and the fact remained that he had just saved his sister too.

Regardless of what Shinji had said about them being even, Toji didn't care. As far as he was concerned, Shinji was boss now.

-Z-

Shinji stood atop the roof of his apartment complex with a small smile gracing his features as he observed the sunset over Tokyo-3.

He'd slowed NERV down and it would take a while for them to regroup and get things back on track, especially since he knew NERV's plans for Unit-03 demanded they use someone close to him as a pilot. The only other possible option would be Kensuke, but he was too low-level a candidate to be used in any effective way.

He just had to keep throwing spanners into NERV's plans whenever they started to fall into line with SEELE or the Commander's scenarios. And then all the plans that he, his mother, and the Saiyans had laid out would go off without a hitch.

It was all just a matter of time. And Shinji knew that he would be personally safe for now since SEELE and his father's arrogance would refuse to let them believe a teenage boy was a credible threat. And all he needed to do to keep that preconception secure. And so he stood there, waiting for the inevitable visit that would be coming.

Any moment now…

Shinji couldn't help but smile slightly wider.

He really did make sneaky look good.

He watched a small, non-descript car pull up outside the and a figure step out who then proceeded to enter the building.

He waited a moment. The visitor would of course go to his apartment first. They'd obviously waited for nobody else to be at home, but Shinji really didn't like doing these things quite so close to home, hence why he'd left a rather helpful post-it note on the doorbell to indicate his current location.

There was a loud slam as the door to the rooftop was swung open. There was the slightest sound of heavy breathing in the air. Was it anger, or was she just not that good with stairs? Shinji didn't know.

He didn't turn around, his fingers instead continuing to idly trace the links in the fence, "You're late, Ritsuko. I was starting to wonder if I was going to be out here all night. Now then…" he said, turning about and leaning back against the fence, "What can I do for you?" he asked, regarding Ritsuko, who was standing across from him with a dark look in her eyes.

If Shinji was threatened, he didn't show it.

Ritsuko glared at him in silence for a moment, her dyed bangs and labcoat fluttering in the evening breeze, "_What_... Are you doing?" She demanded in a low whisper.

Shinji's smile widened just a tad too much, "Why, whatever do you mean, Doctor?"

Ritsuko crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat. Her hand shot out, grabbed Shinji by the scruff of his shirt and slammed him back into the fence. She glared at him, face to face, teeth bared, "You are treading on extremely thin ice, Third Child. _What_ are you doing?"

"What I've been doing, what I've _always_ been doing, what you've simply been too arrogant to notice."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" she hissed.

"Are you threatening me, Ritsuko?" asked Shinji mildly.

"I'm _warning_ you. You may have found out a few small bits of information, and it may have made you angry enough to do something very stupid, but there are parties at work here that you may have very well angered. You have no idea what you've done."

"Parties? Do you mean my father, or perhaps Chairman Kiel and the rest of his little club?" Ritsuko's fingers melted away from Shinji's shirt.

"How do you…"

"Kingdom of the Blind, Ritsuko, "said Shinji ambiguously, "And my eyes are both _wide_ open."

Shinji sighed and made to move, only for Ritsuko to hiss with anger and slam him back once more. Shinji hissed with pain as something scraped the back of his head.

His hand went to the back of his hand to touch the slightly bloody scrape on his scalp. His head lolled forwards and Ritsuko's hands peeled away, exhaling as she relented.

Suddenly, Shinji's head snapped back up and Ritsuko found herself looking into a pair of fiery green orbs.

Fear flashed over Ritsuko's expression in the instant before Yui slammed her forehead into her face.

Ritsuko recoiled with a cry of shock as she collapsed back, cradling her nose.

Yui kicked her hand away and pinned her to the rooftop with a foot to the windpipe. She then crouched down and Ritsuko gagged at the increase in pressure. Yui's hand gripped the side of her throat, her fingertips pressing down at several points, "Do you know where I'm pressing, Doctor?" asked Yui, "I suspect you do…right now, my foot is cutting off the oxygen supply to your brain, my fingers are resting above three of the main arteries in your neck.

"This body may be only fourteen years old, but all I need to do to kill you is apply just the slightest increase in pressure with my fingers to nip those arteries closed for a fatal amount of time. You should know better than to cross a Doctor who knows anatomy like I do."

Yui stayed like that for a moment over Ritsuko, her fingertips like a sword of Damocles threatening to end her, "Once, only once will I ever say this to you: If you dare lay your hands on my son again, Ritsuko Akagi, I swear you will not live to regret that mistake..."

Yui then stood back up, peeling herself off the Doctor, who then proceeded to gag for air and choke out the blood that had pooled in the back of her throat.

Shinji blinked his eyes to find Doctor Akagi on her knees nursing a bleeding nose, dabbing at tears in her eyes, "Oh, she didn't…"

'_Damn right I did…'_

"Oh god, Ritsuko…" said Shinji, who dropped down and hooked an arm under Ritsuko's to help her to her feet. He then carefully assisted her to the bench in the middle of the roof and set her down.

"Your mother certainly has a violent streak…I'd almost say _psychopathic,_" mumbled the doctor as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"She's…a little overprotective," he shifted uncomfortably, "I'm sorry, Ritsuko…"

She shook her head, "It was foolish of me to lose my temper. I should've known what would happen." Her expression darkened, "But what I said remains true: You are in great danger if you carry on down this path."

Shinji let silence hang in the air for a moment, all the while gently examining her injuries, "I don't want you to be my enemy, Ritsuko…"

The statement seemed to take the Doctor aback, and she averted her eyes from his still too-kind gaze. She considered herself still unworthy of such things, "I don't want anything to happen to you either, Shinji."

"Will you trust me, Ritsuko?" asked Shinji curiously and quite suddenly.

"I…I don't understand."

"Will you trust me…to do the right thing?" he asked gently.

Ritsuko hesitated for a long moment…then nodded.

"In that case, don't worry. I promise everything will be fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

He smiled, "I haven't been wrong yet." He cocked his head, "Will you be alright?"

Ritsuko dabbed at her nose with a handkerchief, "I've had worse. Though I still don't think you understand quite how much danger you-"

"-I think he'll be just fine." interjected a familiar voice, the tone as smug as always.

Ritsuko spun about and there, standing on one of the corner posts, unseen up until now, stood a familiar figure. The doctor's eyes widened, "Vegeta…"

The Saiyan prince looked down upon her, his shape a pool of black silhouetted against the setting sun. Ritsuko just stared in silence. Her gaze then travelled back to Shinji for a second before returning to Vegeta, "Now do you understand?" asked the warrior.

She turned back to Shinji, fearful understanding in her eyes, "You formed an alliance with the Saiyans?" she breathed.

"Quite some time ago. Father suspects it, but there's nothing he can do about it."

"I don't think you need to mention this to anyone, do you?" asked Vegeta.

Ritsuko guessed that it wasn't really a question.

She was right.

"No…"

A sardonic smile pulled at the edge of Vegeta's mouth, "Very good. Just remember though: I'll be watching..."

"Understood." Said Ritsuko, her composure regained.

Vegeta nodded and then hovered slowly up into the air, "If there's nothing else…"

Shinji shook his head, "No. Thanks, Vegeta…"

The prince merely cocked his head and then shot off into the darkening skies.

Ritsuko watched until he vanished into the cloud line, "You really are your father's son, aren't you?"

Shinji shook his head, smiling weakly, "Or my mother's. I'm still not sure yet." He then put a gentle arm around the doctor and led her off, "Come along, let's get some ice on that nose before it starts to swell…"

Ritsuko just hung her head sheepishly, and let Ikari's son lead her away…

She had a lot to think about…

-Z-

"Well?" Demanded Gendo as Fuyutski approached his desk with a list of the day's pertinent data.

"First…" he said, setting the clipboard down in front of the commander, "it would seem as though Doctor Akagi has experienced some problems with the recruitment of the Fourth. We may need to find another candidate."

Gendo remained unfazed, "I see. That's unfortunate. And?"

"_Well_, we just got a communiqué from the stealth carrier currently transporting Unit-03 to the Matsushiro facility."

Only now did Gendo's eyes turn to look up at his old teacher, "Is there a problem?

Fuyutski hummed in thought, "No_,_ not a _problem._ It's just that certain 'elements' have taken it upon themselves to escort the Unit mid-flight across the ocean."

Gendo's eyes narrowed slightly, "Elements?"

Fuyutski sighed, "It would seem that _they_ have taken it upon themselves to interfere once again. The carrier would like instructions on how to proceed."

"Order the courier to proceed and accept the escort. I see no fault in accepting the assistance in this case."

"Understood," replied Fuyutski before turning and departing the office to pass along the orders.

-Z-

Trunks twirled onto his back mid-air to face Goten, who was currently flying alongside the opposite wing of the carrier transporting the dormant shape of EVA Unit-03, "Hey, Goten!"

Goten quirked his head around, "What is it, Trunks?" he called.

"How come we've got to do this stuff? We're gonna be at this for another two _hours_ before we even get over land!"

Goten hummed in thought, "Well I guess dad thought that maybe another Angel might try to attack this one while it was being carried! You're the one who said you wanted to help out more!"

Trunks sighed tiredly, "I guess I did…

"Well, at least nothings gonna happen with you and me on guard. Right, Goten?"

"Right!"

Trunks nodded forward, "Head's up, Goten! Looks like bad weather up ahead!"

Goten followed his line of sight towards what appeared to be an unusually thick mass of nimbus clouds. Both Saiyans swerved left and right around the obstruction as the dark mass of the carrier and its cargo vanished within.

Goten and Trunks recoiled away as they passed over the clouds when a loud crackling of electricity suddenly danced over the surface of the grey mass. Thunder roared ominously.

Goten's energy trail burst away suddenly in mid-flight and he came to an abrupt halt. Trunks stopped also, noticing him glancing around.

"What's up, Goten?"

"D-did you feel that?" asked Goten, warily back at the clouds, his hands hugging his lower arms as if chilled to the core.

Trunks frowned in confusion and then grinned, "What, you mean that thunder back there? Don't tell me the son of Goku is afraid of a little lighting and loud noise. Come on. G_row up,_ Goten!"

Goten blinked, his expression going from spooked to pouting in a flash "S-shut up, Trunks! I'm not afraid of anything!"

The purple haired boy grinned, "That's the spirit. Now let's get this stupid job over with."

And with that, both children erupted into a blaze of energy as they shot off after the carrier plane, both completely unaware of the additional cargo they were now unwittingly escorting…

Bardiel, the humiliated child of god had found it's vessel of rebirth. It would wait, it would take one of the Lilim as both puppet and shield, and then it would succeed where its brethren had failed…

-Z-

_To be continued…_

[A/N] Twenty…thousand. Wow, that ended up a tad longer than I thought. Rewrote pretty much all of this one as I had the earlier chapters, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out, even if this one was purely EVA-orientated than DBZ, but that will all change next time. For those who remember this fic's days of yore, next comes the big one. Up next…is Bardiel.

And it's even bloody longer than this one.

See you then!

To be continued in Chapter 23: Introjections


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